Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Law Enforcement News

City to Launch 'Smart911' Allowing Citizens to Create an Emergency Profile
Cincinnati Enquirer, (07/11/2018), Sarah Brookbank
Cincinnati area residents now have the option of registering both cellphones and landlines with the city's SMART911.com system. Users can create a Safety Profile that can include persons to contact, medical notes, car make and model, and more; this profile will display whenever that number calls 911.
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Secret Service Issues "Actionable" Guide to Help Identify Students Who May Be a Threat
CBS This Morning, (07/12/2018), Kolbe Nelson
The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center has released a new step-by-step guide aimed at helping schools identify students who might be a threat. A threat assessment program helps students and teachers identify individuals who might be exhibiting questionable behavior or experiencing some sort of distress.
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The Unlikely Crime-Fighter Cracking Decades-Old Murders? A Genealogist.
Washington Post, (07/16/2018), Justin Jouvenal
Since law enforcement used genealogical data to build a profile and locate a man suspected of being the Golden State Killer, other departments have adopted the technique for use in solving cold cases.  A team based at Parabon NanoLabs in Reston, Va., has proven instrumental in using similar techniques to solve several cases, most recently one in Indiana involving a case from 1988. However, there are a number of concerns about law enforcement's use of genealogical data as a crime-solving tool.
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Corrections News

Jail and Opioids Keep More Men Out of the Workforce in the US Than in Other Big Economies: Goldman
CNBC, (07/12/2018), Liz Moyer
In the United States, higher incarceration rates and opioid abuse have contributed to a low labor force participation rate among men of prime working age. According to research just released by Goldman Sachs, that rate is more than 3 percentage points less than the rate in other developed countries. The research says that one-third of the difference can be explained by opioid abuse and incarceration.
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These Formerly Incarcerated Entrepreneurs Are Trying to Keep People Out of Prison
VICE, (07/06/2018), Mary Mazzoni
Unlocked Futures, a business accelerator, annually supports business ventures by eight entrepreneurs impacted by the criminal justice system to provide assistance. All of these initiatives offer help to others who have been incarcerated; this article profiles several of those initiatives.
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College Degree Options Are Disappearing for Women in Texas Prisons
Observer, (07/12/2018), Michael Barajas
Texas A&M University-Central is in the process of phasing out several four-year degree programs offered to women in the state's prison system, leaving women with access to only associate's degree programs. Men in the state's system can continue to earn both bachelor's and master's degrees
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Injunction Stops the Nevada Prison Planning to Use Fentanyl in an Execution
Slate, (07/11/2018), Rob Dozier
Alvogen, the pharmaceutical company that made one of three drugs to be used in an execution in Nevada, sued to stop the July 11 execution because it did not want its drug to be used. The "drug cocktail" was also to include fentanyl, a key factor in the nationwide opioid crisis. It was the first time any U.S. prison had planned to use fentanyl in an execution.
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Drug Users on Probation Can be Required to Remain Drug-Free, Court Rules
WTVR6, (07/16/2018)
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that putting a person who is on probation back in jail after a single positive drug test is not cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling came as a result of appeals regarding a case in which a woman who had been struggling with opioid addiction relapsed while undergoing treatment. Her attorney argued that the time spent in jail hindered, rather than helped, her eventual recovery.
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