Public Safety Technology in the News

Speed Trap App Is Just the Ticket
WCPO-9, (02/26/2010), Brendan Keefe
A free download that works with some smart phones and GPS units allows drivers to instantly report the location of police cruisers to each other. More than 4 million drivers have downloaded the application, which lets drivers click a single button to report the location of police officers on the side of the road. Trapster then uses GPS to pinpoint the precise location and send out alerts. The application may actually prove beneficial to law enforcement, because drivers in the vicinity tend to slow down when they receive Trapster’s alerts, thus achieving law enforcement’s ultimate goal of improved traffic safety. Some departments are using Trapster themselves to determine when it is time for an officer to move: if an alert shows up, it is likely to remain on the map for a period of time after the officer switches to another location. A concern, however, is that drivers paying attention to their electronic devices may not pay sufficient attention to the road ahead.
www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Speed-Trap-App-Is-Just-The-Ticket/jiE0sruulUiZppMwwKzT0A.cspx

Iris Scans May Prevent Mistaken Release of Inmates
Huffington Post, 02/27/2010), Melanie S. Welte
The U.S. Department of Justice, through the National Sheriffs’ Association, is dispensing $500,000 in grant funds to create a national iris scan database to better identify, register and track inmates. (NSA distributed the funds in $10,000 increments to agencies across the country to put toward purchase of equipment and training.) Iris-scanning technology has been in use for approximately 15 years, but few facilities have installed the technology due to the cost. It does produce instantaneous results, unlike using fingerprints to establish identity. However, fingerprints will continue to play a key role in crime scene investigations, and irises immediately break down when someone dies, so the technology is of no use in identifying remains.
www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100227/us-inmate-eyes/

Toledo Police Get Video Upgrade
Toledo Blade, (03/02/2010), Bridget Tharp
The Toledo Police Department plans to implement an upgraded dashboard camera system that will automatically upload digital video from patrol cars when they are located within a specified range of any of three police buildings. Drug-raid funds and a federal grant will pay for the system, which costs approximately $300,000. The system, which will go into operation in some 40 patrol cars, includes two video cameras per car that begin recording whenever an officer turns on the car’s lights. One camera records activity in the front seat, and the other, in the back. Toledo’s previous system did not provide back seat coverage. A supplemental device carried by officers provides recording capability outside the car.
toledoblade.com/article/20100302/NEWS02/3020346/-1/SRMAIN

Boston Joins Small List of Cities With Real Time Crime Center
The Crime Report, (03/03/2010)
The Boston Police Department has added the capability to nearly instantaneously relay information collected at headquarters (from technology such as surveillance cameras located on major streets, a gunshot detection system and the 911 dispatch center) to officers heading to a crime scene. The Real Time Crime Center is located in a room that previously served as an office foyer, and its opening makes Boston one of a very few cities to have such a center.
thecrimereport.org/2010/03/03/boston-joins-small-list-of-cities-with-real-time-crime-center/

Uptown Surveillance Cameras “Oversee” Crime Decrease
NBC-DFW, (03/04/2010), Ellen Goldberg
The installation of 11 surveillance cameras on McKinney Avenue in Dallas’ Uptown area have resulted in an 10-percent drop in crime in the area. The cameras, installed in late 2009, are part of a 112-camera citywide network. In all, the Dallas Police Department says the new cameras have played a role in nine arrests since January 2010. Plans call for the addition of other cameras in the future as part of a selective effort focusing on high-crime areas, although financial issues will play a role in how quickly and where the cameras will be installed.
www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Uptown-Surveillance-Cameras-Oversee-Crime-Decrease-86294037.html

Reidsville PD Unveils New Communications Center
Rockingham News, (03/07/2010), Mary Dolan
The Reidsville (N.C.) Police Department has opened a new communications center that includes upgraded telecommunications and video components. The new center is equipped to handle both emergency and no-emergency calls and dispatch officers accordingly; it also receives video surveillance information from throughout the city. Reidsville has also joined the Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders (VIPER) network, a statewide interoperable communications system used by the North Carolina Highway Patrol and other emergency agencies. Much of the funding for the project came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through both a grant and a loan.
www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/rockingham_news/article/reidsville_
pd_unveils_new_communications_center/18683/

Electronics Replace Ink and Paper in Fingerprint Process
Jacksonville Daily Record, (03/10/2010), Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Project Falcon, a project of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, enables FDLE to quickly and efficiently collect, store and search finger and palm prints, mug shots and scars and tattoos related to cases that have taken place in Florida. The statewide network can be accessed from venues as varied as patrol cars, courtrooms and jails. Operational for the past six months, the system played a key role in identifying the suspect in a recent infant kidnapping case. It allows for almost instantaneous input and subsequent statewide availability of fingerprints and other identifiers. FDLE also expects it to prove invaluable in solving cold cases.
www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=530465

Police Uniforms Now Include Cameras
Lake Wales News, (03/10/2010), Kathy Leigh Berkowitz
Officers in Lake Wales, Fla., have begun testing a lapel camera called the Scorpion. Seven test units have been issued, mainly to members of the department’s Community Oriented Policing Squad. In the event that someone makes a false complaint against an officer, the cameras can be used to provide evidence of what actually happened. Whereas Lake Wales, like many other departments, using in-vehicle cameras on a routine basis, sometimes the angle precludes them from recording events that happen outside the car. Use of the lapel cameras to record incidents can provide both protection and clarification for officers as needed.
www.lakewalesnews.com/articles/2010/03/10/news/local/doc4b97b8310cad2148687472.txt

Valley Officers Receive Driving Training
Eastern Arizona Courier, (03/10/2010), Jon Johnson
The Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training (AZPOST) Board recently brought an advanced mobile driver training simulator, the PatrolSim 111+, to the Gila Valley for officers’ use. The simulator provides a real-time interactive training experience in high-fidelity, including a number of widely varying scenarios using variables such as extreme weather situations and high-speed chases. An officer from the Tucson Police who is contracted to AZPOST coordinates use of the simulator, and the training counts toward the annual training requirements needed to maintain AZPOST certification. The simulator is intended to supplement, not replace, hands-on training on a driving track.
www.eacourier.com/articles/2010/03/10/news/doc4b96ee54a5b4d079138696.txt

Lenoir County Citizens Can Now Report Crime Online
ENCToday.com, (03/14/2010), Wes Brown
The Lenoir County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Office has begun operation of E-Tips, a link on the Lenoir County Government Web site that allows individuals to make reports about suspicious activities. The tool allows citizens to help solve, or even prevent, crimes without becoming directly involved through the vehicle of anonymous reporting. Types submitted through the Web site are forwarded directly to the sheriff’s office. The county also added a crime-mapping component, MapNimbus, to its Web site earlier in 2010. Citizens should continue to use 911 to report emergencies, however.
www.enctoday.com/news/county-62710-kfpress-lenoir-report.html