Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Obama Signs Active Shooter Training Expansion Bill
Guns.com, (07/27/2016), Chris Eger
The Protecting Our Lives by Initiating COPS Expansion (POLICE) Act, signed by President Obama without comment on July 22, amends the Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to use federal funds for active shooter training programs. Such programs are typically funded using local resources.
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NCSU Faculty Teaches Law Enforcement to Find Where Bodies Are Buried
The News Observer, (08/04/2016), Stephen Ginley
Members of various local law enforcement agencies brushed up on forensic field investigation techniques such as how to catalog evidence at a clandestine burial site at a recent workshop at North Carolina State University, sponsored by the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence, a contract program of the National Institute of Justice. Participants, some of whom came from as far away as Hawaii, learned how to process a site where the victim was buried far afield in an attempt to keep the body from being found.        
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Man Shoots Glendale Security Guard, Vest Saves Him
12News, (08/05/2016)
In Glendale, Ariz., a man approached a private security guard Friday morning at the San Remo Apartments and after an argument, pulled out a handgun and shot him. The suspect fled; the security guard was saved by his ballistic-resistant vest. Link to Article

Simulator Mim
ics Stressful Calls Police May Get
Cape May Herald, (08/09/2016), Vince Conti
The police department in Cape May, N.J., is addressing the stressful situations faced by today's law enforcement officers by implementing the latest in virtual reality technology. The equipment, consisting of a freeware advanced audio coder (FAAC) and the Milo firearms simulator, allow trainers at the agency's training academy to take an officer from the moment of receiving a call in a patrol car through the completion of an incident involving use-of-force decisions.
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Police Use App to Locate Stolen Phones Before Arresting Suspects
WIVB.com 4, (08/09/2016), Evan Anstey
Police in Buffalo, N.Y., recently used the "Find iPhone" app to help apprehend three persons suspected of an armed robbery that included theft of two cellphones. The three were charged with numerous offenses, including armed robbery.
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Corrections News

Data Analytics Helps Bexar County, Texas, Reduce Inmate Population, Save Millions
Government Technology, (08/03/2016), Jessica Renee Napier
In the past seven years, the jail in Bexar County, Texas, has achieved a 25-percent reduction in inmate population and eliminated an overcrowding problem thanks to the use of data analytics. Using Microsoft's SQL Server Reporting Services, staff can better manage cases and identify inmates who are candidates for drug court, those who are ready for transfer and those who could potentially be released. Reducing the jail's population also saves the county money.
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Data-Sharing Efforts Aim to Improve Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice Outcomes
Government Technology, (08/04/2016), Leah Binkovitz for the Urban Edge
Charles Rotramel of Houston reVision, a nonprofit agency that works with at-risk youth, is leading an effort to get agencies at both the local and state government levels and from various nonprofits to share data and enable the development of a better picture of how many youth who are involved in the juvenile justice system are also involved in the child welfare system. Such data can prove vital in developing accurate case management pictures.
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An Inmate Streamed on Facebook Live from Rikers Island
The Verge, (08/03/2016), Joseph Lovinger
An inmate in New York City's Rikers Island Jail achieved 7,000 views on July 22 as he used Facebook Live and a contraband cell phone to show conditions from inside his cell. The inmate said he made the video to call attention to conditions in the jail.
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DOC Investigates After Inmate Allegedly Caught FaceTiming in Prison Cell
KOCO.com, (08/03/2016), Crystal Price
An inmate in Oklahoma's Dick Conner Correctional Center lost his contraband cellphone after a local television station received a tip that he had used it to FaceTime and to post photos to Facebook. The phone joined some 8,000 contraband cellphones confiscated in the past year.
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Protecting GPS From Spoofers Is Critical to the Future of Navigation
IEEE Spectrum, (07/29/2016), Mark L. Psiaki and Todd E. Humphreys
GPS spoofing poses a dangerous but poorly understood threat to the trustworthiness of critical navigation systems. The need to develop ways to send out alerts about false GPS signals is crucial. This article examines the issue and ways to combat the problem.
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Licking County to Buy Body Scanner for Jail
Newark Advocate, (08/04/2016), Kent Mallett
County commissioners and the sheriff's office in Licking County, Ohio, recently agreed to share the purchase of a body scanner for the Licking County Justice Center at a purchase price of $108,000. The scanner potentially could be in operation by October. The device will be used to supplement, not replace, manual pat-downs of incoming prisoners.
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'The Worst Way to Address Mental Illness'
The Crime Report, (08/09/2016), Christopher Moraff
The mental health reforms of the 1960s and 1970s, which included an end to involuntary commitment, have resulted in tens of thousands of mentally ill persons becoming incarcerated in the nation's prisons and jails. A recent panel discussion at the National Criminal Justice Association Conference in Philadelphia focused on innovative strategies for addressing the issue, which could be termed a public health crisis. An estimated 1.5 million people with severe psychiatric conditions are arrested each year, and more than 350,000 remain incarcerated at a given point in time.
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