Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Law Enforcement News

Cameras on School Buses Catch Thousands Breaking Law; Less Than Half of Drivers Pay Fines
KSAT, (10/19/2017), Tim Gerber
Five San Antonio area school districts have thousands of cameras installed on their buses that watch for drivers who pass stopped buses illegally. Passing a stopped bus illegally can cost a driver $300. But KSAT news found that less than half of drivers issued citations have paid fines.
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Ohio Attorney General Unveils New Technology to Combat Skimmer Crimes
Cleveland 19 News, (10/20/2017)
Cyber crime agents with the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation have a new tool to help local law enforcement agencies investigate crimes involving credit card skimmers. The technology allows the ability to extract data from a majority of credit card skimmers, which criminals use to steal credit card or debit card information from cardholders, according to the attorney general's office. In a recent case, BCI agents were able to identify more than 700 victims of a single skimmer device.
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Editorial: Another Tool for Police to Tackle a Tough Job
Daily Times, (10/25/2017)
Pennsylvania's Upper Darby Police Department is participating in the RITE Academy, which stands for Racial Intelligence Training and Engagement. Training helps participants get in tune with their own emotions, calling on them to collect themselves before engaging with the public. It also stresses "racial intelligence," a concept of treating everyone fairly.
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LI Law Enforcement Officials Escalate Tactics Against Drug Dealers
Newsday, (10/29/2017), Mark Morales and Michael O'Keeffe
Long Island law enforcement officials have escalated tactics against drug dealers, charging some alleged dealers linked to the deaths of drug users with manslaughter and tracing dealers through their customers' cellphone calls and text messages. The tactics are spurred by an opioid epidemic that killed more than 500 people in Nassau and Suffolk counties in 2016. Investigators now treat every overdose as they would a crime scene: getting to it as soon as possible to start gathering and processing evidence from a cellphone.
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Unique Program Allows Adams Police to Ensure Safety of Residents With Developmental Disabilities
The Berkshire Eagle, (10/27/2017), Adam Shanks
Police in Adams, Mass., are launching Project Safe Return, a program that uses a tag that will help provide information to police when searching for or interacting with people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The tag is designed to be laced into the person's shoes and will read "Project Safe Return, Adams Police Department." A serial number is printed on each tag, allowing police to pull up vital information about the person that is stored in a database when the family applies to the program. The information can include favorable conversation topics, triggers or dislikes, ways of communicating, calming methods, hobbies and key phrases that can help officers communicate with a disabled person who might be in an unsafe situation or in distress.
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Emergency Officials in CT Receive New Protective Gear
News12, (10/27/2017)
Firefighters and EMS crews in four Connecticut communities have received new body armor to boost their ability to respond to mass casualty incidents involving gunfire. The first responders in Stamford, Norwalk, Darien and Fairfield are also getting color-coded triage kits to prioritize injured patients in the event of a largescale incident.
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Information Gap Frustrating Unified Crime Fighting in Tallahassee
Tallahassee Democrat, (10/28/2017), Karl Etters
The Tallahassee Police Department is working to implement a new records management system that will accelerate the analysis of information and allow more ready access to reports and data. The current system requires information to be handled manually. The department is also developing its use of a crime mapping tool that blends dispatch information and the records management system. The tool will incorporate proactive policing data, patrol information, calls for service, type of incident, arrests and field interviews, which can be shared with other agencies that also use the program, officers in the field and investigators.
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Corrections News

County Inmates Release More Than 1,200 Pheasants into the Wild
The Buffalo News, (10/29/2017), Harold McNeil
The last of more than 1,200 hand-raised pheasants were recently released into the wild by inmates at the Erie County Correctional Facility in New York as part of the county Jail Management Division's Pheasant Brooding program. The program, which is overseen by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, aims to replenish wild pheasants in areas where their numbers have been decimated by the rapid encroachment of predatory wild animals. The pheasants were raised and cared for by inmates who volunteer to participate.
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Memphis Authorities Fight to Clamp Down on Smuggled Cellphones Behind Bars
USA Today Network, (10/29/2017), Yolanda Jones
District attorneys in Tennessee are asking state legislators to change the law to make possession of cellphones by inmates a crime. Under current law, a person caught trying to bring a phone into a prison can be charged with introduction of contraband into a penal facility, but if authorities catch an inmate with the phone in prison, it is not a crime. Prosecutors want legislators to close the loophole in the law. In Tennessee, inmates lose visitation privileges and are fined if they are caught with cellphones. But they are not criminally charged.
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Hancock County Jail Sees Less Contraband With Body Scanner
WISHTV, (10/25/2017), Tim McNicholas
The body scanner at the Hancock County Jail in Indiana has detected about 60 contraband items so far this year, including drugs, a cellphone, tobacco and lighters, according to jail staff. The county started scanning inmates in January 2017. In 2015, 17 people made it through book-in with drugs later found in the jail. So far this year, fewer than six people snuck in contraband.
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Ankle Monitors, GPS Devices Help Drug Courts Save Taxpayer Money
KVIA, (10/23/2017), Kate Bieri
The Third Judicial Drug Court in New Mexico has invested $25,000 in monitoring equipment to better track the clients in the program. The new equipment includes SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) ankle monitors and GPS monitoring equipment, according to a press release. The ankle monitors are already used in many parts of New Mexico. Drug court participants that use the ankle bracelet have a 98.4 percent compliance rate, according to the Third Judicial District Court. Defendants can either sign up to use the monitoring device that tracks their alcohol intake and location, or go to jail.
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Prisons, Nonprofits Coach Juvenile Lifers to Rejoin Society
SF Gate, (10/30/2017), Adam Geller for Associated Press
This article discusses states' efforts to help former juvenile offenders sentenced to life ("lifers") prepare for release from prison on parole and a successful transition into society. This story is part of an AP series examining the aftermath of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling opening the door for the possible release of former teen offenders sentenced to life without parole.
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Riverside County Adopts "Lean" Approach to Transforming Probation Department
CAFWD, (10/25/2017), Nadine Ono
Integrating the Lean methodology is one method the Riverside County Probation Department is using to improve efficiency. The Lean method evaluates and determines the value of current processes to various stakeholders, then eliminates the unnecessary or redundant steps to streamline those processes. The department's objectives in using the method are to increase positive outcomes for clients, decrease the amount of time it takes to engage with clients and reduce the cost of services, all while maintaining public safety.
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