LAW ENFORCEMENT
DNA Cold Hit Nabs "60 Freeway Slayer"
The Los Angeles County (California) District Attorney recently announced a DNA cold hit match for five strangulation murders of women in 1993 and 1994 known as the 60 Freeway killings. The man identified by the DNA evidence has been in a California prison since February 1994, a month after the last killing, and has spent most of his adult life behind bars. He had been set to be released in February 2004 after completing his sentence for a series of armed robberies.
[Source: “Inmate Linked to Five Deaths; Prisoner's DNA is matched to the serial killings of women whose bodies were found north of Pomona Freeway in 1993 and 1994” by Richard Winton. Los Angeles Times, 5 November 2003]
National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, at the October 24, 2003 Annual Conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), endorsed the new National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan, developed by the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative Advisory Committee coordinated by the U.S. Department of Justice. Law enforcement agencies across the nation contributed to the Plan. The National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan and other supporting documents may be read online.
[Source: “Attorney General Addresses the IACP and Endorses National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan.” Department of Justice press release, 31 October 2003]
Louisville, KY Gets DHS Interoperability Grant
The Louisville, Ky. metropolitan area will receive a federal grant of $8.6 million under the Department of Homeland Security’s Urban Area Security Initiative. The funding will be put towards the estimated $50 million to $60 million needed to bring communications interoperability to area public safety agencies. The Louisville and Jefferson County police departments, which merged in January, use communications systems that are incompatible because they operate on different frequencies. The new communications system, to be completed by 2006, will include area police, fire departments, emergency medical services, and other agencies.
[Source: “Louisville gets grant for radio system; Goal is to connect communications for public-safety agencies” by Sheldon S. Shafer. The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), 1 November 2003: 1A]
Livonia (MI) Police Get Technology Grant
The DeKalb (Georgia) Police Department plans to soon have all officers prepare reports electronically, speeding up the process of getting incident reports to detectives who investigate crimes. Officers will write their reports online, which will then be reviewed by a sergeant and downloaded into a records database. The paperless process will also enable crime analysis officers to spot trends sooner, and in the future such data will be made available to the public in a planned crime mapping section on the department’s Web site.
Anchorage (AS) Gets New 911 System
Anchorage, Alaska public safety officials have signed a 10-year $10 million contract for a new 911 system in that should be up and running within a year. The system offers a more accurate street address system, a backup dispatch center, and will provide online maps both in public safety vehicles and at dispatch headquarters. Dispatchers will also be able to verify the location of 911 calls from cell phones, which comprise 40% of the 250,000 911 calls received in the city each year.
Source: "Mayor Begich signs $10 million emergency call contract; 911: Anchorage's new system will be one of the most advanced in the nation" by Anne Aurand. Anchorage (AS) Daily News, 25 October 2003: B3
DeKalb (GA) Police Go Paperless
The DeKalb (Georgia) Police Department plans to soon have all officers prepare reports electronically, speeding up the process of getting incident reports to detectives who investigate crimes. Officers will write their reports online, which will then be reviewed by a sergeant and downloaded into a records database. The paperless process will also enable crime analysis officers to spot trends sooner, and in the future such data will be made available to the public in a planned crime mapping section on the department’s Web site.
Source: "Laptops to speed crime follow-up, aid trend-spotting" by David Simpson. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 30 October 2003: 1JA