Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Law Enforcement News

Using Cell Phones to Fight Crime
Chicago Tribune, (02/02/2017), Hannah Leone for the Aurora Beacon-News
The Aurora (Ill.) Police Department has launched a campaign titled "Click, then Call," with the intent of encouraging residents to use their cell phones to take photos and video of suspicious activity, then share them with the department. In a news release, the Aurora PD referred to cell phones as "portable surveillance tools" that have helped them solve crimes in the past. If more citizens do so in the future, the hope is it may result in more solved crimes, according to the release.
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Bethlehem Launches 'Take Me Home' Program to Protect Those Who Wander
Allentown Morning Call, (02/03/2017), Nicole Radzievich
Bethlehem, Penn., has implemented Take Me Home, a free program in which family members can register a person in need of special assistance, such as someone with cognitive or developmental disabilities. If a registered person wanders away from home, police can access a database that provides them with a photograph and vital information, such as contact information. Link to Article

New FBI Wanted App: Making It Easier to Find Fugitives and Missing Persons
FBI.gov, (02/06/2017)
The just-released FBI Wanted mobile app allows the public to view, search, sort, filter and bookmark the full range of information issued by the FBI, including pictures and descriptions of wanted fugitives, missing persons, crime suspects, deceased victims and others the Bureau is seeking to locate or identify. The free app works on Apple and Android devices, including smartphones, iPads and iPods. The FBI hopes that the public will use the information in the app to help solve cases and return missing persons to their homes.
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Des Moines Police Using Body Cameras. Will You Be Able to See the Video?
Des Moines Register, (02/07/2017), Kathy A. Bolten and MacKenzie Elmer
Using money from private donations, drug forfeitures and city funds, the city of Des Moines, Iowa, will spend $1.6 million to outfit some 300 officers with body cameras by the end of March. The police department has selected a model that "talks" to the in-car video camera through Wi-Fi, includes one minute of silent "prerecording" capability and can track officers' movements via GPS.
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Not Without 'Hiccups,' Rice County Law Enforcement Adapts to New Computer System
Faribault Daily News, (02/08/2017), Gunnar Olson
Two months after the launch of a new computer system, the three law enforcement agencies in Minnesota's Rice County see both pros and cons in the new system, which involves three major components: computer-aided dispatch (CAD), field-based reporting and records management. Its new GPS system is a plus, but there also has been a learning curve in many aspects of using the system.
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Corrections News

SC Prisons Agency Seeks to Reduce Contraband With Netting
CorrectionsOne.com, (02/01/2017), Seanna Adcox for the Associated Press
The South Carolina State Fiscal Accountability Authority has approved $113,400 in funding for the design phase of a project designed to reduce the amount of contraband reaching the state's correctional facilities. The state corrections agency wants to install 50-foot-high poles, mesh designed to withstand up to 160 pounds of force and rope borders with a breaking strength of 5,500 pounds, rising nearly 40 feet higher than existing fencing. There were 28 incidents of contraband thrown over fences into correctional facilities in December 2016 alone.
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New Twist on File-in-Cake Scheme: Drones Flying Over Prison Walls
Charlotte Observer, (02/08/2017), Ames Alexander
As drones become less expensive, they more often become the avenue of choice for individuals intent on smuggling contraband into correctional facilities. In South Carolina, legislation that recently passed the state Senate would make it a misdemeanor to fly a drone within 500 feet around or 250 feet above a prison or jail without written consent from the state prisons director. The state has also built watchtowers to assist in the search for drones, and other states are taking countermeasures as well.
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Trace Metal Analysis by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry and X-Ray K-Edge Densitometry of Forensic Samples

Author: Jonna Elizabeth Berry

Abstract:

This report describes a variety of studies determining trace elements in samples with forensic importance using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and x-ray, K-edge densitometry. The elements studied were lipstick, copper wire, and gunshot and bullet residue.

Original sample integrity is retained when laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS) is used on solids. Therefore, the speed, convenience, and limited sample destruction of LA sampling is an advantage for forensic work. Ablation of samples by LA-ICP-MS is relatively non-destructive and allows for replicate measurements of a sample, which may be required for forensic analyses.

The report highlights studies on three types of forensically related samples that were analyzed for trace element composition that impact forensic investigations. LA-ICP-MS was used to determine the trace element composition of numerous lipstick samples. LA-ICP-MS was also used to analyze copper wire, which is used for binding or strangling victims, often is left at crime scenes, and can be recovered from electronic circuits or components after a bomb explosion.

LA-ICP-MS also assessed the presence of gunshot residue (GSR) on tissue within pig carcasses. Finally, pig decomposition studies were made to detect bullet fragments in bones using radiography and x-ray, K-edge densitometry. This method avoids even the small amount of sample destruction inflicted by LA-ICP-MS.

The lipstick study found samples of different brands or colors to be distinguishable based on their trace element compositions. This suggests LA-ICP-MS could assist in the identification of the brand and color of an unknown lipstick sample recovered at a crime scene.

The copper wire study found that variations in the trace elemental composition cannot be readily distinguished from one another, suggesting spatial heterogeneity should be evaluated in forensic applications, particularly in cases where only small samples are available (e.g., copper strand fragments after an explosion).

In the GSR study, larvae, temperature, and precipitation had substantial effects on the retention of GSR in the skin around gunshot wounds on decomposing carcasses. In general, these results indicate potential forensic value of measuring GSR elements in skin and larvae for a period of time throughout the decomposition process.

Finally, the pig decomposition studies resulted in bones that had very small bullet fragments in them. This result demonstrates the potential for GSR to be detected on skeletonized remains using radiography and x-ray, K-edge, densitometry. Identification of projectile trauma on skeletonized remains would be important in forensic investigations in order to assist in determining the cause of death.

Overall, the studies found that LA-ICP-MS is a relatively nondestructive technique, whereas x-ray, K-edge densitometry is completely nondestructive. Both techniques have low detection limits for the measurement of trace elements, and most, or all, of the original sample integrity remains intact, which is advantageous in forensic analyses.

Read the Report

Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Law Enforcement News

New Technology Coming to Canyon Police Department
KFDA, (01/26/2017), Nelly Ramirez
The Canyon (Texas) Police Department will use a $30,000 Justice Assistance Grant to enhance department technology. Plans include replacing in-car video cameras and updating current radar to laser radar systems.
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Lodi Police Dispatchers Receive Communications Center Upgrades
Lodi News-Sentinel (01/26/2017), Christina Cornejo
The Lodi Police Department in California has updated communication center equipment. The department received $364,000 from the Office of Emergency Services, spending all but $15,000. The funding paid for six new workstations; a new CAD system for answering 911 calls, nonemergency and business line calls; and a new system of recording those calls. The department also financed the purchase of a new $569,000 radio system from its own budget.
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Governor Announces Grant Funding for Dallas Law Enforcement
RGVProud, (01/26/2017)
Dallas has received a more than $1 million grant for the purchase of personal protective equipment such as ballistic helmets and bulletproof vests. The grant from the Homeland Security Grants Division within the Texas Office of the Governor comes in the aftermath of the deadly attack on Dallas peace officers last July, and is in addition to an earlier grant of $616,000 in November that was also used for equipment and protective gear.
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Cambria Law Enforcement Agencies Receive Heroin Antidote Naloxone
The Tribune-Democrat, (01/27/2017), David Hurst
Law enforcement agencies in Cambria County, Penn., now have access to naloxone, which is used to reverse opioid overdoses. Previously, only state police and Cambria County's emergency medical responders carried the drug. Borough, city and township departments; several county agencies; and college campus-level forces have received naloxone to carry while on duty. Cambria County Drug Coalition Executive Director Ronna Yablonski outlined the coalition's plan for stemming drug abuse, which includes multi-agency efforts to increase drug prevention efforts, reduce the area's illegal drug supply and improve systems of care.
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SRNL Shares Radiation Detection Technology With Law Enforcement
Aiken Standard, (01/3/12017)
The Savannah River National Laboratory recently hosted police departments and government agencies from five states to test vehicles outfitted with radiological and nuclear detection equipment. Richard Reichel, director of SRNL Global and Homeland Security Programs, said the test, the first in a series, validated the equipment. The lab developed the methodology for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office testing. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, Florida Highway Patrol and police departments from Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Suffolk County, N. Y., participated. For the test, the SRNL team confirmed no hazards were present along the 1.5 mile demonstration route, and placed sealed radiation sources along the route. The participants drove SUVs equipped with the detection gear to determine the type and amount of materials used.
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Sierra Vista Police Ready to Don Body Cameras Next Week
Sierra Vista Herald, (02/01/2017), Eric Petermann
Police in Sierra Vista, Ariz., are expected to begin using body-worn cameras on Feb. 8. The Sierra Vista City Council authorized the department to purchase 62 of the cameras and docking stations. Officers will wear the device on the front of their uniforms and at the end of their shifts, place the camera in a docking station, which downloads the video. Cameras are manually activated and the new department policy directs officers on when they are responsible to record.
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Corrections News

All 3 Northeastern Pa. Prisons Will Remain Open
Times Leader, (01/26/2017), Bill O'Boyle
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections will close only one state prison, SCI Pittsburgh, and keep all three prisons in Northeastern Pennsylvania that were in danger of closing open. On Jan. 6, the department announced that two of the five state correctional institutions would close as of June 30. At a press conference on Jan. 26, members of the state legislature said testimony at a hearing on the economic impact of closing two facilities swayed the DOC and Gov. Tom Wolf to close only one.
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Phones Confiscated From Prisons Will Be Sent to Soldiers
The Commercial, (01/30/2017)
Phones confiscated from correctional facilities of the Arkansas Department of Correction will be donated to Cell Phones for Soldiers. Correctional officers confiscated 848 new and used cell phones from inmates in 2016, according to an ADC news release. It is the third year ADC has donated cell phones to the nonprofit organization, which provides the donated phones to soldiers needing them to call their families and friends.
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Santa Clara Co.: Body Cams Approved for Deputies, Jail Officers
The Mercury News, (01/26/2017), Eric Kurhi
Santa Clara County officials have approved equipping deputy sheriffs on patrol and guarding the jails with body cameras. The cameras will be rolled out for use over the next year, with about 1,142 officers eventually receiving them. The county policy on use of the cameras includes that the deputies have their cameras on to record such activities as detentions, vehicle stops, pedestrian stops and probation and parole searches.
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In Effort to Reduce Contraband, More Maine Jails Turn to Video Visitation
Maine Public, (01/09/2017), Susan Sharon
Maine is among states using video to replace or augment visits between inmates and their families. At least three jails in the state are using video visitation and at least three more plan to do so. Jail administrators say using the technology is an effective way to reduce contraband and reduce staffing costs. But some prisoners, their family members and advocates object to the loss of face-to-face visits and want them to continue.
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