Buffalo Police Get License Plate Readers
Buffalo, N.Y. police will soon begin using license plate readers to rapidly scan for stolen cars and other warrants associated with vehicles during traffic stops and regular patrols. The department purchased one of the $20,000 readers using a state grant, and was given another reader by the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Vanessa Thomas, “Police take high-tech aim at drivers,” The Buffalo (N.Y.) News, 31 July 2006: B3
DNA Cold Hit Solves 1995 North Carolina Rape
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police cold case rape unit, formed earlier this year, has linked a South Carolina prison inmate to a June 26, 1995 rape case thanks to DNA database profiles and improved processing of crime scene evidence. Investigators plan to focus their efforts on an additional 100 cold cases.
Danica Coto, “Police Identify Suspect in 1995 Rape; New Technology Allowed Testing for DNA, Leading Officers to Man in S.C. Prison,” Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, 8 Aug. 2006: 3B
Mobile, Ala. Information Sharing Task Force
The city of Mobile, Ala. has announced the Intelligence Against Violence and Drugs (IVAD) task force, made up of the Mobile District Attorney’s Office, the Mobile Police Department, the Prichard Police Department, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The program allows each agency to tap into the same database of information on criminals, to better track and solve cross-jurisdictional crime.
Nadia M. Taylor, “System to allow law enforcement to work together,” Mobile (Ala.) Register, 4 Aug. 2006
Successful Information Sharing by Arizona Fusion Center
The Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC), which operates under the auspices of the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS), is considered one of the best-run and most effective of the 42 state "fusion centers" designed to improve information sharing among law enforcement agencies at the state and local level. ACTIC was established using a federal Homeland Security grant and state funding, uniting at its suburban Phoenix location representatives from state and local police and fire departments as well as DHS and the local FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).
“In Arizona, Officials Share Data the Old-Fashioned Way,” The Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2006: A7
BJS Report on Federal Law Enforcement Officers
A new report from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJS) includes results of a biennial census of Federal agencies employing personnel with arrest and firearms authority. Using agency classifications, the report presents the number of officers working in the areas of police response and patrol, criminal investigation and enforcement, inspections, security and protection, court operations, and corrections, by agency and State, as of September 2004.
Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2004, Aug. 2006
Montana Among States Awarded NGA Grants
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, in partnership with the SAFECOM program, the communications program of the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC), has awarded five grants to support governors and other state and local policymakers in developing statewide interoperability plans. Alabama, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana and Washington have been selected to receive $50,000 each for wireless communications planning projects to be completed by July 2007.
Gwen Florio, “Law enforcement, emergency services get wireless grants,” Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune, 30 July 2006: 1M
