Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Law Enforcement News

Norwich to Join Stonington, Groton Town Police in State Radio System Partnership
Theday.com, (11/12/2018), Claire Bessette
The Norwich Police Department will join the Connecticut state police radio system following voter approval of a $2.7 million bond to replace the city's aging police radio system. Officials said the new system will give Norwich instant interoperability with surrounding state police troops and other state agencies and with participating local departments.
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New Shooting Range Will Help Out Seneca Law Enforcement With Training
Fourstatehomepage.com, (11/12/2018), Autumn Bracey
A new shooting range will serve both the Eastern Shawnee Tribal Police in Oklahoma and the Seneca Police Department in Missouri. The Shawnee Skies Training Center and Shooting Complex is open to police three days a week and to the public the other four days of the week.
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Hartford Council Will Consider Plan to More Closely Regulate Drones by Law Enforcement
Hartford Courant, (11/12/2018), Jenna Carlesso
Hartford city officials are considering a proposal to oversee the use of drones and other technology by law enforcement. Under the proposal in the city council, city agencies would need permission for all current and new methods of surveillance, including unmanned aerial devices, license plate readers, body cameras, video and audio recording systems, facial and voice recognition software and gunshot detection hardware.
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Sheriff's Office to Employ New Technology to Improve School Safety
Paso Robles Daily News, (11/14/2018)
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office says most public and private schools in the county now have access to an app designed to alert law enforcement of an active shooter incident. The Rave Panic Button Smart Phone App allows employees to immediately connect to the 911 dispatch center for their school and at the same time send a message to the other employees on campus.
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West Palm Beach Police Reveal High-Tech ‘Real Time Crime Center' to Catch Criminals
CBS12, (11/15/2018), Luli Ortiz
The West Palm Beach Police Department has a new Real Time Crime Center, which is equipped with technology to monitor camera footage from across the city. Police can also collect data from license plate scanners and monitor 911 calls. The cameras work in sync with gunshot detection technology.
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Load-Bearing Vest vs. Duty Belt: Ergonomic Researchers Determine the Winner
PoliceOne.com, (11/12/2018), Judy Bertiaume for University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Load-bearing vests are a safe and healthier alternative to the traditional duty belt, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Police officers who carry most of their equipment on vests rather than duty belts experience significantly less hip and lower-back pain, the study found.
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Corrections News

State Prisons Showcase Apprenticeship Programs
WBAY, (11/15/2018), Emily Matesic
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections, along with Workforce Development, is showcasing apprenticeship programs in prisons to encourage employers to consider the prison population as possible future employees. At Oshkosh Correctional, up to eight inmates at a time are involved in the two-year culinary arts apprenticeship program that teaches skills to help inmates in their search for employment following release.
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Rhode Island Prisons Push to Get Inmates the Best Treatment for Opioid Addiction
NPR, (11/19/2018), Andrea Hsu, Ari Shapiro
This article discusses the Rhode Island Department of Corrections' $2 million program to provide inmates treatment for opioid addiction. Rhode Island is the only state to screen every individual who comes into the correctional system for opioid use disorder, and to offer, in conjunction with counseling, all three types of drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat addiction (methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone).
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Neuroscientists Make a Case Against Solitary Confinement
Scientific American, (11/09/2018), Dana G. Smith
This article discusses the effects of solitary confinement. It was presented during a session at the recent annual Society for Neuroscience meeting.
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High-Tech Bail Tool Helps Decide Who Stays in Jail, Who is Released
KIRO7, (11/16/2018), Amy Clancy
Officials in Yakima County, Wash., are using a computer program to help determine whether people arrested for allegedly committing various crimes should be released from jail. A suspect's history is entered into the program, and the outcome is a Public Safety Assessment that identifies various risk factors such as whether the arrest is for a violent offense or if the suspect has prior felony convictions. How the suspect scores will help determine whether he or she remains behind bars on bond, or is let out of jail without having to post any bail after an initial court appearance.
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Honolulu Rolls Out Ankle Bracelet to Monitor Drunken Drivers
Honolulu Civil Beat, (11/15/2018), Terri Langford
Repeat drunken drivers in Honolulu can soon be made to wear a SCRAM CAM anklet that detects alcohol consumption through a wearer's sweat and notifies the courts. The anklet will be used as a condition of bail or sentence for repeat offenders. Hawaii courts are notified through the anklet if a repeat drunken driver has been drinking.
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Smartphone App Streamlines Remote Inmate Visitation
Government Technology, (11/13/2018), Francis Scarcella for The Daily Item
Friends and family of Northumberland County Prison inmates can now visit their loved ones through a smartphone app. The app allows inmates to make video calls from inside the Pennsylvania prison.
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Officials: Inmate Used Cellphone to Contact Detective Posing as Girl
WFTV, (11/14/208), Jason Kelly, Len Kiese
An inmate at the Tomoka Correctional Institution in Florida allegedly used a cellphone to chat with and send explicit photos and messages to an Orlando police detective posing as a 14-year-old girl, according to police. The detective had created an online profile of a child decoy, according to an arrest report.
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