Public Safety Technology in the News

Cell Phone Jamming Equipment in Place at Local Federal Prison
Cumberland Times-News, (02/17/2010), Michael A. Sawyers
The Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Md., was recently the site of a cell phone jamming test conducted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Officials jammed cell phones in the prison and also ran tests to determine if phones outside of the facility were affected. Existing federal law allows NTIA to jam phones at federal prisons but not at correctional facilities operated by local and state governments. Legislation pending on the U.S. Congress would allow the agency to jam cell phones in non-federal prisons. It is illegal for inmates to have cell phones but many have them regardless. Officials want to be able to jam the phone signals to prevent inmates from conducting illegal activity from inside the prison, such as extortion and drug deals. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley noted that in 2009, officials confiscated 1,658 cell phones from the state’s prisons.
www.times-news.com/homepage/local_story_048233818.html

Crime Hot Spots Can Be Cooled
Discovery News, (02/23/2010), Lisa Grossman
Researchers have developed a mathematical model that may help predict where police intervention will shut down a crime hot spot completely, rather than just shift the criminal activity to another location. Andrea Bertozzi, a mathematician at UCLA, presented the new model at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She said researchers could predict the ability to suppress or otherwise displace hot spots. Working with the Los Angeles Police Department, Bertozzi built a mathematical representation of how areas with frequent, repeated crimes form within a city and change over time. The research team ran burglary simulations that led to the formation of crime hot spots, then simulated police intervention, resulting in two sharply distinct outcomes. Some hot spots simply shifted to another location, but for others, police suppression of the hot spot made it disappear entirely.
news.discovery.com/human/crime-hot-spots-police.html

U.S. to Embed Agents in Mexican Law Enforcement Units Battling Cartels in Juarez
Washington Post, (02/24/2010), William Booth
U.S. officials plan to embed American intelligence agents in a command center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to help deter drug cartels and curtail mounting violence. U.S. and Mexican agents would work to share drug intelligence gathered from informants and intercepted communications. More than 2,600 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez in 2009. The city sits across the border from El Paso, Texas. Under the arrangement, U.S. law enforcement officers would work alongside recent graduates of the new Mexican federal police academy, who were trained by FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration advisers as part of a $1.4 billion U.S. aid package to Mexico.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/23/AR2010022305560.html

Grant Money Will Help Fund a Forensic Interview Room
WEAU.com, (02/23/2010)
A nearly $10,000 grant from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance will be used to enhance the ability of Pierce County, Wis., to video record child forensic interviews. The money will be used to buy three new monitors for the existing interview rooms in Ellsworth, which will allow for simultaneous interviewing of children. Forensic interviews provide several advantages, including allowing the child to be interviewed once, rather than several times by different agencies. The interviews are taped and can be used in preliminary court proceedings, eliminating the need for a child to testify in court several times.
www.weau.com/home/headlines/85094717.html

DOT’s New Sample Bill Encourages States to Ban Texting
Truckinginfo.com, (02/23/2020)
As part of its effort to combat distracted driving, the U.S. Department of Transportation is providing sample legislation that states can use when drafting laws banning texting while driving. The sample can serve as a starting point for localities wanting to restrict cell phone use or texting while behind the wheel. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have laws banning texting while driving. The DOT worked with safety organizations to draft the sample bill, including the Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the National Safety Council and the American Automobile Association. The sample law would not apply to emergency first responders such as police, fire and EMS personnel, and would not be enforced if a citizen were texting or calling to report an emergency or criminal activity. On the first offense, drivers would be subject to a $75 fine.www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=69488

Federal Trade Commission Links Wide Data Breach to File Sharing
Washington Post, (02/23/2010),Cecilia Kang
Employees exchanging music, software and movie files over the Internet are causing data breaches at companies, schools and local governments, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC said it has sent nearly 100 letters to firms where sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, leaked through peer-to-peer Web services. The agency warned that security breaches could lead to identity fraud or theft and recommended the groups review their policies and inform affected users. David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection, said the review is part of a recent sweep of the Internet to understand how peer-to-peer networks affect users’ online privacy. Many companies are probably unaware that they have made user data public.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022204889.html?hpid=sec-tech

Crime-Mapping Program Expands Across Northland
Duluth News Tribune, (02/25/2010), Mark Stodghill
About 30 law enforcement departments are joining forces to monitor and try to prevent crime in Northern Minnesota through a crime mapping Web site. Police departments, sheriffs’ offices and the state patrol have joined www.crimemapping.com, which Duluth police and city residents have been using for nearly two years. The site tracks 15 types of crime by type, date, time and location, within two miles of any address entered on the site. The new interagency Web site will allow participating communities to track crime as their law enforcement agencies track and post crime statistics. About 200 agencies nationwide use the service, but Northeastern Minnesota law enforcement is unique because of its collaboration, according to Milan Mueller, president of The Omega Group, which maintains the Web site. Police say the site provides another way for law enforcement agencies to share information and better inform the public.
www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/161286/

Information-Sharing Still a Roadblock
The Baltimore Sun, (02/22/2010), Paul West and Julie Bykowicz
Federal agencies need to share more critical information with state and local officials, according to John Brennan, the president’s special assistant for homeland security. At a recent meeting of the National Governors Association committee on homeland security and public safety, Brennan said although information sharing has improved since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, more needs to be done. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said the continuing lack of information-sharing among federal and state law enforcement and intelligence agencies is a large stumbling block to improving the ability to deter or respond to terrorism incidents. Brennan said citizens also need to be more involved in detecting potential threats. In addition to Brennan, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge attended the committee session.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.omalley22feb22,0,7979465.story

Coryell County Upgrading Courthouse Security
Killeen Daily Herald, (02/23/2020), Taylor Short
Coryell County, Texas, is upgrading security in county buildings by installing a system of 107 panic buttons that when pressed will alert police to the location of the emergency. The approval by the county commissioners to purchase the upgraded security system comes in the wake of a fatal shooting on the courthouse steps in February. The county currently has 20 panic buttons. The $6,515 security upgrade will add the additional buttons and increase the wireless distance that an alert will travel.
www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=39380

Grants Help Out Police
Corsicana Daily Sun, Texas, (02/23/2010)
The Corsicana Police Department in Texas will use nearly $400,000 in federal grant money for a computer automated dispatch (CAD) system and other computerized tools. The department will use $310,000 to purchase a CAD software program. Another $79,000 will be used for eight in-car computer/camera surveillance systems on patrol cars, and $10,500 will pay for two video surveillance systems to detect graffiti and vandalism. The CAD system software will be used to track 911 calls, follow-up reports and evidence. The money comes from the U.S. Recovery and Reinvestment Act Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Formula Grant Program of 2009.
www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/02/23/4636488.htm