Public Safety Technology in the News

ISIS: New Video Camera Sees It All
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, (05/06/2010)
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is testing a 360-degree video surveillance technology that provides high resolution detail and multiple views. The Imaging System for Immersive Surveillance (ISIS) is being pilot tested at Logan International Airport in Boston. Traditional surveillance cameras are useful but have limitations, for example, once they zoom in on a specific point of interest, they lose visual contact with the rest of the scene. ISIS has a unique interface that allows the user to maintain a full field of view while magnifying the point of interest. Video from ISIS is very detailed due to image-stitching technology, which is a series of cameras stitched into a single, live view. Video analytics in the system allow other features, such as providing an alert when and "exclusion zone" is breached. Also, a system operator can identify a target, such a person or a truck, and the detailed viewing window will tag it and follow it, panning and tilting as needed.!
www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1273160563362.shtm

Police Solve 1980 Cold Case With DNA Evidence
Courier-Journal, (05/04/2010), Sean Rose
Grants from the National Institute of Justice have helped police in Louisville, Ky., use DNA evidence to identify a suspect in a 1980 sexual assault case. The investigation was enabled by cold case grants from NIJ. Police believe the case is the oldest cold case in the state closed due to DNA evidence. The suspect has been serving three life sentences for multiple counts of first-degree sodomy since 1982. The assault occurred in July 1980. Evidence in the case was eventually matched to the suspect's DNA after a 2008 state law required DNA samples to be collected from all felony offenders. www.courier-journal.com/article/20100504/NEWS01/5040362/1008/Police+solve+1980+cold+case+with+DNA+evidence

Program Gives Louisville Police $52,500 to Buy Body Armor
Courier-Journal, (05/05/2010), Chris Quay
Police in Louisville, Ky., will be getting new body armor thanks to a $52,000 grant from the Law Enforcement Protection Program. The statewide program awards law enforcement agencies grant money for body armor, tasers and ammunition. The funds are raised through a bimonthly auction of confiscated gun sales at the Kentucky State Police supply branch in Frankfort. This is the second time Louisville has benefitted from the grant program, receiving $70,000 five years ago.
www.courier-journal.com/article/20100505/NEWS01/5050406/Program+gives+Louisville+police+$52+500+to+buy+body+armor

New Driver's License Design, Facial Recognition to Play Latest Role in Stemming ID Theft
Snohomish Times, (05/03/2010)
Washington state is enhancing driver's license design through facial recognition software to protect citizens against identify theft. The state is expanding the use of the technology applied to its Enhanced Driver License program to regular driver's licenses and ID cards. The software, which is a math-based facial mapping system, creates unique facial templates based on each driver's license or ID card photo to identify potential matches of the same face associated with different names. Department of Licensing investigators examine photographs and other information to determine if identity theft or other criminal activity is occurring. The template is a digital representation of the relative locations of facial features that are not easy to alter, including eye sockets, cheekbones and sides of the mouth.
www.snohomishtimes.com/snohomishNEWS.cfm?inc=story&newsID=1172

Routt County Mobile Command Center Gets Upgrade
Steamboat Today, (05/02/2010), Zach Fridell
Emergency responders in Routt County, Colo., have a new, $351,716 mobile operations center. The 35-foot-long mobile command unit includes four dispatch centers fitted with radios and work spaces. It can be plugged into phone lines or use cell phone service, pick up Internet from a satellite dish or from nearby buildings, and is fitted with antennas for the VHF and 800-megahertz communication bands used in Routt County. The vehicle also has space at a rear table for emergency responders to lay out maps and discuss strategies. It also could be used as an emergency communications center if the dispatch room in the county sheriff's office ever had to be evacuated.
www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2010/may/02/routt-county-mobile-command-center-gets-upgrade/

Officers Roll With Punches
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (05/05/2010), Christine Byers
Bike patrol officers from 34 states recently received tips on techniques from a world-class bike riding champion. Participants at the annual conference of the International Police Mountain Bike Association, held in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, Mo., received training on how to quickly dismount and overcome obstacles, as well as tips on maintenance. For some officers, the conference is the only tactical bike training they get on how to outmaneuver suspects in cars, on foot and on bikes. St. Louis County now has 47 bikes for use during special events and patrol. The St. Louis police downtown unit has 16 officers who ride year-round; additional officers patrol other areas of the city. EMS workers in St. Louis also use bikes, carrying oxygen tanks, heart defibrillators and other first-aid equipment.
www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/laworder/story/EAEBC66D926B651F8625771A00062F5E?OpenDocument

Technology Keeps an "Eye" on Crime
WOWT.com, (05/06/2010), Jodi Baker
Nebraska is the latest state to receive iris biometric technology, which can be used to find missing persons and track criminals. The Douglas County Sheriff's Department is using the technology, paid for with a grant from the National Sheriff's Association. With the biometric recognition camera and software, which costs nearly $5,000, agencies can take a high-resolution photo of the eyes. Sheriff Tim Dunning said the department will use the technology in the same way as children's fingerprints are used in identification programs. He said the system could also help better identify, register and track inmates and sex offenders. Nebraska is the 46th state to receive the technology; currently 243 systems are in place across the nation. All states should have at least one agency with iris biometric technology by the end of June.
www.wowt.com/news/headlines/93024059.html

IC3 Celebrates 10 Years of Fighting Cybercrime
FBI, (05/07/2010)
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has marked its 10-year anniversary. The center serves as a central referral system for complaints involving Internet-related crimes. IC3 was established as a partnership between the National White Collar Crime Center and the FBI. During its existence, the center has handled 1.5 million cybercrime complaints that cover online fraud, computer intrusion, economic espionage, money laundering and child pornography. The Web-based Internet Complaint Search and Investigation System used by the center enables users to search the IC3 complaint database, analyze data and share case information with investigators from other jurisdictions. The center also offers analytical support, training and research.
www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/ic3_050710.htm

Corrections K-9s Sniff Out Smuggled Cell Phone
KCRA.com, (05/10/2010)
California officials are training dogs to detect cell phones in an effort to stem the tide of illegal phones being smuggled into the state's prisons. Cell phones are being used by inmates to conduct illegal activity. State corrections authorities have confiscated 2,500 cell phones from prisoners just since the beginning of 2010. In 2009, nearly 7,000 mobile devices were found hidden in cells in the state's 33 prisons. Officials are training five dogs to find cell phones. The dogs, all Belgian Malinois, were donated to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
www.kcra.com/news/23510557/detail.html

Portrait in DNA: Can Forensic Analysis Yield Police-Style Sketches of Suspects?
Scientific American, (05/2010), Christine Soares
Research into the human genome could eventually lead to a police-style sketch of an unknown suspect based on his genetic code. Using a few tufts of hair preserved in permafrost, Danish scientists used DNA from an ancient Greenlander from the Stone Age to determine his blood type and hair, eye and skin color. The National Institute of Justice is funding research into genetic markers for forensic use. Using genetic markers, Daniele Podini of George Washington University is developing a forensic kit to determine a suspect's eye and hair color, sex and probable ancestry. If successful, the anticipated result is another investigative tool that can reduce the number of suspects or corroborate witness testimony.
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portrait-in-dna