Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Surveillance Poles to Combat Crime in Downtown Santa Ana
Eyewitness News KABC7, (11/02/2016), Greg Lee
The city of Santa Ana has installed seven code blue help points downtown to help fight crime. Each point is equipped with a camera, an information call button and a 911 call button. Police said the points can provide evidentiary value in the event of a crime and provide an additional resource for the public. The blue flashing lights make the poles easy to spot, and the poles can be used by police in a large-scale emergency to address the public with a live or recorded message. When the help button is pushed, the call dispatcher can see and hear the person who is calling for help.
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Missouri City Awarded Bulletproof Vest Grant
Sugar Land Patch, (11/03/2016), Bryan Kirk
The police department in Missouri City, Texas, will be able to purchase body armor with grant funds from the Bureau of Justice Assistance Fiscal Year 2016 Bulletproof Vest Partnership program. The city has received this recurring grant for more than a decade, which reimburses the police department for 50 percent of the costs for replacement of body armor.
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Austin Leaders OK Deal With Dallas County to Reduce Rape Kit Backlog
Austin-American-Statesman, (11/03/2016), Elizabeth Findell
The Austin City Council has approved a six-year, up to $3.6 million agreement to allow the city to send forensic evidence to Dallas County's forensics lab to help reduce Austin's rape kit backlog. The Austin Police Department has 610 recent cases involving DNA, including at least 484 rape kits. Austin police have been unable to process DNA since late May, when its lab was closed because of evidence contamination and processing failures. It is expected to reopen next year. The department has been sending DNA evidence to the Texas Department of Public Safety, but DPS has been able to process only some of the evidence.
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Border Patrol Fighting Drones Helping Cartels Deliver Drugs Over U.S. Border
CBS News, (11/06/2016), Chris Martinez
Federal agents are using the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border and spot aircraft such as drones that are being used for illegal activity. Smugglers use drones and homemade, low-flying planes to try to deliver drugs over the border. Six blimps along the border carry specialized radar that can detect aircraft flying too low for conventional radar to see. The TARS radar images are sent to a military base in California, where officers watch for potential threats. If a smuggler makes it over the border, the TARS technology helps track down the drugs before they get into the wrong hands.
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Drug-Related Autopsies Skyrocket for Local Coroners, Forensics Professionals
The Tribune-Democrat, (11/06/2016), Jocelyn Brumbaugh
The Coroner's Office in Cambria County, Pa., and other forensic professionals in the area are experiencing a spike in the number of deaths investigated related to drug abuse. To date in 2016, the Cambria department responded to 60 deaths that have been confirmed as drug overdoses, with 20 pending toxicology results. In 2015, the office reported 58 total drug overdose deaths, 20 of which were linked to heroin. Forensic Dx in Windber, Pa., performs autopsies from surrounding counties, and said more than half of those completed over the past two years have been for drug overdoses: 131 overdoses out of 244 total autopsies in 2015, and 142 of 233 total autopsies to date in 2016. The region is also experiencing an increase in cases where fentanyl, a potent painkilling opiate, is present in heroin overdoses.
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Burlington County Working on $40M Emergency System Upgrade
Burlington County Times, (11/07/2016), Brian Woods
A New Jersey county is improving its public safety communication system through enhanced broadband spectrum. The $40 million project in Burlington County was spurred by a Federal Communications Commission mandate to change radio frequencies for public safety emergency response systems from a 500 MHz band to 700 MHz. On its website, the FCC states that the 700 MHz spectrum allows signals to penetrate buildings and walls easily and to cover larger geographic areas with less infrastructure.
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Pennsylvania Awards $6.5 Million in School Safety Grants
THE Journal, (11/07/2016), Joshua Bolkan
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is awarding $6.5 million as part of the Safe Schools Initiative Targeted Grant program to reduce school violence. The program includes $3.9 million for school entities, municipalities and police departments for training and salary for school resource officers and school police officers. Another $2.6 million was awarded to public school entities to fund programs designed to prevent violence and procure safety and security equipment.
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Corrections News

Drone Makers Asked to Hard Code Prisons As No-Fly Zones
ZDNet, (11/04/2016), Charlie Osborne for Between the Lines
Prison officials in the United Kingdom want drone manufacturers to hard code prison locations into their products to stop attempts to use the devices to deliver contraband to inmates. The unmanned aerial vehicles have been detected in fly-and-drop schemes to deliver mobile phones, weapons and drugs to inmates. A recent report on Prison Safety and Reform says together with vendors, the prison system plans to trial "the inclusion of prison coordinates in no-fly zones" in the hard wiring of the devices.
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Washington Prisons to Cease Calling Inmates 'Offenders'
OBP, (11/03/2016), Austin Jenkins
Prison inmates in the state of Washington will no longer be called offenders. In a memo to staff, Dick Morgan, Secretary of Corrections, said the term offender has a negative connotation. Instead of offender, the Department of Corrections will use terms like individual and encourage staff to address inmates by name. A spokesman for the union representing front line prison staff said they would like to see the department focus on improving staff safety and security.
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Opiate Declines in Md. Prisons After Cut From Medicaid List
Associated Press, (11/04/2016), Hannah Lang
Since a drug used to treat opiate addiction was removed from the Medicaid Preferred Drug List in July, the amount of it recovered in Maryland correctional facilities as contraband has decreased by 41 percent, according to the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. The drug Suboxone, in film strip form designed to be placed under a user's tongue, can easily be smuggled into correctional facilities. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene removed it from the preferred list, substituting Zubsolv tablets, on July 1. The tablets are harder to smuggle into prison. Between July 1 and Oct. 31, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services recovered 940 pieces of Suboxone film strips, compared to 1,603 recovered during the same period in 2015.
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Dog-Training Program for Inmates Expands in Maryland
Blasting News, (11/05/2016), Susan Lee
A Maryland correctional facility is considering expanding its inmate dog-training program. The Happy Hounds program at the Roxbury Correctional Institute near Hagerstown allows inmates to train rescue dogs from shelters to prepare them for adoption. The current program allows for six to 10 dogs for training purposes.
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Jail Officer Standards Relaxed
The Journal Gazette, (11/06/2016), Jamie Duffy
An Indiana sheriff is lowering the age and education requirements for jail confinement officers to ease recruitment and retention. Allen County Sheriff David Gladieux lowered the requirement from a minimum age of 21 with a high school diploma to a minimum age of 18 with a high school equivalency certificate. Lower pay compared to other law enforcement positions and job stress can affect recruitment and retention. Starting pay for an Allen County Jail confinement officer is slightly more than $35,000 a year. A sheriff's deputy salary starts at slightly more than $45,000. The sheriff's department said after the changes in requirements, confinement officer applications grew by 40 to 116. The jail needs 13 more confinement officers to be at the optimum 126.
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New Cook County Clinic Aims to Keep Mentally Ill Out of Jail
Chicago Tribune, (11/01/2016), Lisa Schencker
A new Cook County clinic on the South Side of Chicago has been established to keep more mentally ill people and those with substance abuse problems out of jail. The Community Triage Center is a walk-in facility for assessments, support and referrals. Police also can bring people to the center if they believe they would be better served there than in the hospital or behind bars. The center is modeled after similar programs in Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Antonio, Texas. About 20 percent of county jail detainees have a behavioral health issue that may have led to their detention, according to the county health system. Mental health services are provided at the jail, but health officials say it is not an ideal surrounding for treatment.
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Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Suffolk Police to Deploy License Plate Readers Amid Recent Gang Slayings in Brentwood
Long Island Press, (10/24/2016), Rashed Mian
Suffolk County, N.Y., police plan to use automatic license plate readers to help stem violent gang activity. Using a $1 million state grant, police plan to purchase and deploy at least 50 license plate readers across Brentwood, Central Islip and Bay Shore following six suspected gang-related murders that have occurred since September. The short-term goal is to use the devices to solve open cases, officials said, and ultimately "decimate" the gangs responsible for the crimes. Police believe the technology can be used as a "virtual net" encircling the perimeter of targeted neighborhoods to make it difficult for known gang members to pass through unnoticed. Since September, the department has aggressively targeted known gang members and boosted patrols in and around Brentwood.
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LMPD Says Gunshot Detection System Could Help Investigate City's Shootings
WDRB, (10/26/2016, Kyle Mitchell
Police in Louisville, Ky., want to use a gunshot detection system to improve response time and help with investigating shootings. The detection systems use a network of microphones to triangulate the sound of gunshots and provide a location to police. The department recently presented research on the systems to the Louisville Metro Council Public Safety Committee. The department would like to have a system in place within a year.
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County to Receive Federal Funds to Combat Drug Trafficking
Sun Current, (10/23/2016), Christiaan Tarbox
Five Wisconsin counties will receive federal funds to help combat drug trafficking, thanks to a special designation from a national drug control program. The counties of Anoka, Dakota, Ramsey, Washington and Hennepin were included in the Wisconsin High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area on Oct. 13. Under the program, the counties would receive future federal resources to aid their drug control efforts.
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There's a New Way to Take Down Drones, and it Doesn't Involve Shotguns
Ars Technica, (10/26/2016), Dan Goodin
A researcher has devised a way to interfere with a drone using a radio transmitter to hijack the device and take control. The original operator's remote control experiences a loss of all functions, including steering, acceleration and altitude. The hack works against any drone that communicates over DSMx, a remote control protocol for operating hobbyist drones, planes, helicopters, cars and boats. The device was presented recently at the PacSec 2016 security conference in Tokyo by Jonathan Andersson, the advanced security research group manager at Trend Micro's TippingPoint DVLab division.
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State Launches Program for Students to Anonymously Report Threats, Concerns
Casper Star Tribune, (10/27/2016), Elise Schmelzer
Wyoming students can anonymously report threats or safety concerns to law enforcement and school authorities through a new program. The students can use Safe2Tell Wyoming, a computer and phone application tip line, to report threats of violence, bullying, drug use and other issues. The program is based on the Safe2Tell program launched in Colorado in 2004.
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Donor Gives $18k for Body Cameras for Lebanon Police
Union Leader, (10/31/2016), Meghan Pierce
An anonymous donor has provided $18,000 to pay for 10 body cameras for police in Lebanon, N.H. The donation also covers accessories, hardware, installation, training and support required to integrate the cameras into police operations. The cameras will be shared by the roughly 22 officers assigned to the patrol division and other officers who may be working a uniformed patrol assignment.
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Corrections News

Less Crime, and Fewer Incarcerations
Harvard Gazette, (10/28/2016), Sibella Matthews
New York City experienced a substantial decrease in violent crime and incarcerations in an 18-year period, according to a new study. The paper, "Better by Half: The New York City Story of Winning Large-Scale Decarceration While Increasing Public Safety," was co-authored by Judith Greene, executive director of Justice Strategies, and Vincent Schiraldi, senior research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management and a former New York City probation commissioner. The paper documents that between 1996 and 2014, the city's serious crime rate fell by 58 percent, while the jail and prison incarceration rate fell by 55 percent.
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Use of Force Simulator Demonstrated
Daily Citizen, (10/31/2016)
The Moraine Park Technical College criminal justice-corrections program recently hosted a use of force simulator demonstration for local corrections and law enforcement agencies. The simulator allows students at the Wisconsin college to respond to real-life crisis scenarios in a simulated, virtual environment. Users can hold firearms and other instruments while navigating a simulated scenario projected on a screen. Agencies viewing the simulator included correctional institutions, sheriff's departments and police departments. Security director Dylon Radtke of Dodge Correctional Institution said the simulator showcased promising features for future training and he plans to reserve the equipment to help train his staff.
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Jail Visits Are Going Away. But You Can Chat With an Inmate for 40 Cents a Minute
Miami Herald, (10/27/2016), Gwen Filosa
Monroe County jails in the Florida Keys are among the latest correctional facilities to allow only video visits with inmates. The sheriff is installing a digital system that will allow people to have virtual visits with inmates from their homes for about 40 cents per minute. It will remain free to go to a jail to visit an inmate at any of three county jails across the Florida Keys, but as of November 7, all visits will be conducted through video and must be scheduled at least eight hours in advance, according to Deputy Becky Herrin, spokeswoman for the Monroe Sheriff's Office.
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A Prison Drama Written and Performed by Prisoners
WBHM, (10/28/2016), Andrew Yeager
A new radio drama written and performed by prison inmates is airing on an Alabama radio station. "Corrections" is a health-themed drama produced by the University of Alabama at Birmingham and written and performed by inmates at the Donaldson Correctional Facility in western Jefferson County. The first episode aired recently on WJLD AM 1400.
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FBI's Cyber Investigation Certification Program

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, the FBI's Cyber Division and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, has developed the new Cyber Investigation Certification Program. The self-guided online program is available to federal, state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement personnel on the FBI's Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal. Each course has an assessment at the end of the training, and upon successful completion of each course, participants will receive a course certificate. The first responder course is available now and additional courses are in planning and development. To find out more, go to https://fbi-cicp.cert.org/lms.