Public Safety Technology in the News

Jet Added as Houston Police Training Tool
MyFoxHouston.com, (07/19/2010), Andrea Watkins
In July, the Houston Police Department became the first in the country to
begin using a decommissioned U.S. Air Force Boeing 737 for training exercises.
The scenarios will not involve flight, but rather will simulate situations that
officers might face at one of Houston’s three major airports. The Air Force
retains ownership of the aircraft but has granted full use of the jet to the
Houston Police Department. Training scenarios planned for the SWAT team include
bomb detection, hostage situations and other potential terrorist activities.
Link to Article

Baltimore Police Publish Mug Shots Via Cell Phone
Baltimore Sun, (07/20/2010), Peter Hermann
The Baltimore Police Department has begun sending mug shots of wanted
individuals directly to the cell phones of citizens who sign up for the service,
making the city agency one of the few that uses instant communication via social
media to keep residents current on breaking crime news. Many departments around
the country use social media to make announcements and publicize press releases,
but few use it to provide updates on crimes (such as shootings) in real time.
Link to Article

Port of Providence Installs Chemical Detection System
SecurityInfoWatch.com, (07/21/2010)
Providence, R.I., city administrators have announced plans to install a new
chemical-detection sensor system in the city’s port to alert public safety
agencies to possible chemical hazards. Funded through a $593,000 competitive
U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant, the system will provide first
responders with information to help them accurately evaluate potential threats.
The sensors continuously monitor the air and detect and identify a wide range of
chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals. The new system will be
integrated into the existing video surveillance system.
Link to Article

N.J., Virginia Federal Prisons Use Solar Power to Cut Energy Use,
Greenhouse Emissions
Associated Press, (07/20/2010)
Constellation Energy and federal correctional facilities in Fairton, N.J.,
and Petersburg, Va., will work together to trim both energy use and greenhouse
gas emissions through implementation of solar power, smart energy controls,
electric vehicles and other technology advances. Savings are estimated at more
than 25 percent at both facilities.
Link to Article

Blinding Laser Beam Newest Police Tool
King 5 News.com, (07/20/2010), Linda Byron
The Dazer Laser, a powerful laser gun that can temporarily blind and
disorient an individual using a large modulating pool of green light, is one of
the newest less-than-lethal weapons to be offered for possible inclusion in the
law enforcement equipment package. It is being promoted as a safe alternative to
Tasers and pepper spray. The devices require minimal training and are supposed
to be equally effective for day and night use, from distances ranging from three
feet to 1.5 miles. The manufacturer says the device, which will be available
within the next month, does not cause eye damage. Dazer Lasers require a
security code to activate and will not be sold to the public.
Link to Article

Statewide Website Tracks Sex Offenders
Madison Courier, (07/24/2010), Renee Bruck
Sheriff’s offices in the 92 counties in Indiana have launched OffenderWatch,
a new website for tracking sex offenders. The site went into statewide use July
1. The Indiana Sheriffs’ Association sponsors the new website, which is updated
daily, and allows users to search and determine whether any sex offenders live
within a two-mile radius of a specified address. Citizens may also sign up for
e-mail alerts that let them know if an offenders moves within a mile of
registered address.
Link to Article

New Map Helps Track Crime in Panama City Beach
The Walton Sun, (07/25/2010), Felicia Kitzmiller
One of the latest additions to the growing number of law enforcement agencies
nationwide to sign up for CrimesReports.com is the Panama City (Fla.) Police
Department, which makes the location of a crime, its case number and the date
available to citizens who search the service. The service is expected to not
only keep citizens better informed but also to aid law enforcement by generating
more tips and providing them with a tool to track crimes and identify trends.
Data is automatically uploaded on a daily basis. Some crimes, such as those
actively under investigation, traffic citations and sex crimes, are not
included.
Link to Article

Police to Use New Alert System Via Text Message
Westport Patch, (07/28/2010), Liz Mitchell
On Aug. 1, the Westport (Conn.) Police Department will implement a new
community information service, created by Nixle, LLC, that provides information
to citizens via e-mail and text messages. The Nixle services offers
neighborhood-level public safety and community event notices, with users
electing to receive them through the Internet, e-mail, text messages or by
logging onto http://www.nixle.com/ and reading the notices. There is no charge for the
service although standard text messaging rates apply. In the past year, the
department had also added Internet reporting and up-to-date crime data online.
Link to Article

Verizon Intros Telehealth for Prisons
InformationWeek, (08/02/2010), Nicole Lewis
Verizon Telehealth Collaboration for Prisons will offer telehealth solutions
that use equipment ranging from desktop webcams to high-definition and immersive
video to conduct videoconferencing and expand inmate access to care via remote
monitoring devices. This service will provide near-real time access and reduce
transportation costs, improving access to healthcare professionals and speeding
diagnosis. The service is available immediately through various outlets.
Link to Article

Airport Police Use Growing Fleet of Robots to Ferret Out Bombs
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, (08/02/2010), Kelly YamanouchiAtlanta’s Hartfield-Jackson International Airport has announced plans to
add a bomb disposal robot that can maneuver its way through narrow airplane
aisles to check under seats and in overhead bins for explosives. Funding for the
$300,000 device came from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant. The
airport has been using robots since 1996, prior to the city’s hosting the
Olympics. The newest addition can climb stairs, get into tight spaces and reach
into overhead bins.
Link to Article

Will Apps for the Army pave the way?

Edric Thompson is a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, located at Fort Monmouth, N.J.

Lt. Gen. Jeff Sorenson, the Army Chief Information Officer/G-6, will be conducting a Bloggers Roundtable at 10:30 am eastern this morning to discuss the Apps for the Army (A4A) contest. It should be an interesting discussion as he’ll also have some of the winners joining him.

I’ll be listening because several of our engineers at the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) provided support throughout the A4A competition.

Members of our Software Oriented Architecture Center of Excellence, or CERDEC SOA COE, interviewed applicants, served as technical advisors, ensured that the applications ran correctly, performed certification testing to make sure there were no vulnerabilities, and configured the operating environments.

I hope they get a shout out for all their hard work!

But I’m also looking forward to hearing Lt. Gen. Sorenson’s thoughts regarding the way ahead. This is more than a simple contest. As Sorenson said in a recent press release, “This pilot program is helping define the business processes needed to make it easier to develop applications and certify software for the Army enterprise.”

The infrastructure our SOA team helped develop and the lessons learned from the contest will provide a new way to look at streamlining the way we purchase, deploy and certify applications software. In other words, it’s going to go a long way towards supporting Army Software Transformation (AST) strategic initiatives.

AST seeks to transform the way the Army defines, develops, tests, certifies and deploys software. The AST strategy establishes the path forward for drastically reducing the time to deliver relevant applications to the Warfighter.

The AST Strategy has three strategic initiatives: standardize end-user environments and software development toolkits, streamline enterprise software processes, and create an Army Software Marketplace – all of which were done during A4A.

Certification and accreditation in the acquisition cycle are labor intensive and take a long time, so if we can develop automated tools and processes, it will get capabilities to the Soldier more quickly.

I’m not sure what the way ahead will be; that’s not my call by any stretch of the imagination. But I am excited about the potential, and I hope this is something he will address. I’m also interested to hear others’ thoughts on this, too. Check out the Bloggers Roundtable and then share a post of your own!

New Chief for USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center

Doug Beard has been selected as the chief of the USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center.

The NCCWSC is helping understand climate change impacts on fish and wildlife and develop tools that resource managers can use to protect these species and their habitats.

“Earth’s climate is expected to have significant impacts on our nation’s fish and wildlife now and in the future,” said Beard. “The USGS NCCSWS is providing sound science on how the climate may change and how landscapes and habitats will respond, helping managers develop effective strategies to protect species survival.”

Beard had already been serving as the interim director of the USGS NCCWSC since September 2009. Previously, he was the USGS program coordinator for fisheries and aquatic and endangered resources. He first joined the USGS in 2003, working as a program manager with the National Biological Information Infrastructure. Before coming to the USGS, he held fishery management positions in Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Natural Resources. He received a bachelor’s in biology from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, a master’s in fish and wildlife from Pennsylvania State University, and a doctorate in zoology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Beard will also oversee the establishment and program direction of the Department of the Interior’s eight regional Climate Science Centers. These CSCs will provide scientific information, tools and techniques needed to manage land, water, wildlife and cultural resources in the face of climate change. The NCCWSC and other USGS scientific programs will work closely with these CSCs.

The USGS and the DOI CSCs will work with a network of Landscape Conservation Cooperatives in which federal, state, tribal and other managers and scientists will develop conservation, adaptation and mitigation strategies for dealing with the impacts of climate change.

The NCCWSC was established by Congress in 2008. Projects currently underway include studies of alterations in Florida’s ecosystems, potential impacts on Great Lakes’ fish, sea-level rise impacts on San Francisco Bay marshes, and the effects of melting glaciers on Alaska’s freshwater coastal systems.

The Military’s Expert on Social Media Answers Your Questions on Reddit.com

Sumit Agarwal, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (PA) for Outreach and Social Media, will answer questions on Reddit.com's "Ask Me Anything" series.

As a self-described geek and Internet aficionado, I arrived for my internship at the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Public Affairs office and was promptly placed on their New and Social Media team. I was aware that DoD had created policy on social media technology, but I had no idea there was a whole team dedicated to it, let alone a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Outreach and Social Media.

One of my assignments for the quarter was to find a way for DASD Sumit Agarwal and his team to create direct dialogue with the public and promote openness in government. And as a frequent poster on Reddit.com, I thought their “Ask Me Anything” series would fit the bill.

Reddit.com is an Internet community that is a hybrid between a message board and a social news aggregator. Their “Ask Me Anything” interview series showcases a public figure and has them take questions from the community.

Mr. Agarwal will film responses to the top ten questions on Friday, August 6, at 8am eastern, and we will make sure to post the responses on the Armed with Science blog.

Mr. Agarwal hopes that this interview series will continue his mission of using technology to create direct dialogues between the government and the people. As social media and communication technologies become more engrained in our daily lives, we are becoming keenly aware of how important it is for servicemembers and their families to take advantage of this power.

This is an opportunity for anyone to ask a top government official a question and have a good chance of getting it answered! This opportunity doesn’t come along very often, so I encourage you to go to Reddit.com, register your account, and ask him anything!

Beyond the Factor of Safety: Developing Fragility Curves to Characterize System Reliability

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center announces the publication of a new document on its Web site.

ERDC SR-10-1

Beyond the Factor of Safety: Developing Fragility Curves to Characterize System Reliability by Martin T. Schultz, Ben P. Gouldby, Jonathan D. Simm, and Johannes L. Wibowo

Abstract: Fragility curves are becoming increasingly common components of flood risk assessments. This report introduces the concept of the fragility curve and shows how fragility curves are related to more familiar reliability concepts, such as the deterministic factor of safety and the relative reliability index. Examples of fragility curves are identified in the literature on structures and risk assessment to identify what methods have been used to develop fragility curves in practice. Four basic approaches are identified: judgmental, empirical, hybrid, and analytical. Analytical approaches are, by far, the most common method encountered in the literature. This group of methods is further decomposed based on whether the limit state equation is an explicit function or an implicit function and on whether the probability of failure is obtained using analytical solution methods or numerical solution methods. Advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches are considered.

If you wish to access/download the document (60 pages/625 kb) in pdf format, the address is: http://libweb.wes.army.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/ERDC-SR-10-1.pdf

Incidence and Management Costs of Freshwater Aquatic Nuisance Species

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center announces the publication of a new document on its Web site.

ERDC/EL TR-10-13

Incidence and Management Costs of Freshwater Aquatic Nuisance Species at Projects Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by Richard A. Cole, Paul F. Scodari, and Monica A. Franklin

Abstract: This study investigates the costs and possible benefits associated with freshwater aquatic nuisance species (ANS) at projects operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Based on results from a random-sample survey of three Corps Divisions (LRD, NWD, and SAD), ANS occurred at 16.9 % of Corps projects and ANS management costs were incurred at 10.5% of the projects ($4,165,500 total expense). Most ANS occurrences were large aquatic plants, which incurred 98% of the management cost. Algae management made up most of the remaining cost. Based on a literature review, Corps expenses are a small fraction of the total ANS management expense in the United States. Florida management costs are among the best documented and are over 40 times the Corps expenditure in Florida. Corps costs per unit effort are lower than average. If the benefit-to-cost ratio found for Florida in the ANS literature generally applies, the benefits derived from Corps ANS management are about $35 million per year in the Jacksonville District alone and $50 million per year in the surveyed Divisions. Benefits from improved habitat for threatened native species may also be substantial, but are poorly estimated.

If you wish to access/download the document (57 pages/940 kb) in pdf format, the address is: http://libweb.wes.army.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/EL-TR-10-13.pdf

Ecosystem Management and Restoration Research Program (EMRRP) Publications

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center announces the publication of a new document.

ERDC/EL TR-10-12

A New Nonmonetary Metric for Indicating Environmental Benefits from Ecosystem Restoration Projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by Richard A. Cole

Abstract: A new environmental benefit metric is described and proposed for use in planning environmental quality improvement projects using an ecosystem restoration approach. Called the Biodiversity Security Index (BSI), the metric indicates the value gained from securing the Nation’s native species from decline toward extinction by providing more natural ecosystem support. The BSI takes different forms of expression depending on ecosystem restoration project reconnaissance, feasibility study, and program budget planning needs. In its simplest form, the index score is the sum of indicator species identified to be insecure in the ecosystem planned for restoration. The most advanced form requires estimates of the number of viable population units restored and includes indicators of species distinctiveness, based on taxonomic differences, and unmanaged risk of species recovery failure. Policy-determined weights are applied to reflect the relative importance placed on species security, species distinctiveness, and risk of viable population units not being recovered as planned. The metric appears to be consistent with Federal project planning and feasibility study objectives described in Corps planning policy. Its direct indication of benefits and comparability across projects are major advantages over other metrics now in use.

If you wish to access/download the document (52 pages/341 kb) in pdf format, the address is: http://libweb.wes.army.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/EL-TR-10-12.pdf