Allentown, Pa. Police Get Cruiser Laptops
The Allentown Police Department has announced plans to install new computers in 42 vehicles, allowing officers to run records checks over high speed Internet without the aid of dispatchers. The computers will also enable officers to check online maps and prepare reports electronically while in their cruisers.
Manuel Gamiz Jr., “Allentown police get new wheels,” The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.), 28 Sept. 2006: B1
Nabbing Illegal Alien Criminals in North Carolina
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph said a database connecting his office with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is helping deport illegal immigrants who break the law. The 287(g) program computer system that went into operation May 1 in Mecklenburg has enabled Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office Deputies, trained by Immigration & Customs Enforcement staff, to send more than 550 illegal immigrants charged with local crimes to the federal immigration court for deportation hearings.
Steve Lyttle, "Database helps sheriff find illegal immigrants: County now connected to information from Homeland Security," The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, 27 Sept. 2006
Kansas Gets Federal CJIS Grant
Kansas has received a $407,220 grant as its share of National Criminal History Improvement Program funding to help update its criminal justice information systems. The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has announced almost $11 million in awards to state agencies to improve the completeness, quality and accessibility of the nation's criminal record systems.
“State gets grant to update criminal systems,” Topeka (Kansas) Capital-Journal, 30 Sept. 2006: 2
DNA Cold Hit on 1981 California Murder
The San Jose, Calif. Police Department has announced a DNA database match and cold case investigative work has linked a prison inmate to the murder of a young German woman on New Year's Day 1981. Murder charges have been against the man, already serving time for an unrelated 1982 homicide and robbery in San Francisco.
Jessie Mangaliman, “Cold case killing solved 25 years later, SJPD says,” San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, 23 Sept. 2006: B3
Boone County, Ill. Sheriff Gets Live Scan
The Boone County, Ill. Sheriff’s Department has installed a new Live Scan fingerprint system in the county courthouse, using a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. When people charged with minor offenses show up for court hearings, judges send them across the hall to get fingerprinted, solving a gap in county fingerprint collection.
Jacob Luecke, “Scan system to mend gap in crime files: Sheriff fingerprinting for petty offenses,” Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune, 27 Sept. 2006
DNA Cold Hit Solves Ohio Murder
The City of Akron, Ohio Police Department has used the state’s DNA database, containing profiles of all convicted felons in Ohio, to link a prison inmate with the 2003 stabbing murder of a man in his West Akron home. The DNA database has aided more than 1,000 investigations statewide through the first half of 2006.
Phil Trexler, “Inmate charged in 2003 slaying; State database of prisoners' DNA turns up match to blood droplets,” Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, 29 Sept. 2006: B1
West Virginia Court Records Project
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals is creating a database that will link state courts and agencies within the next three to four years. A pilot project of the multimillion dollar Unified Judicial Administration (UJA) computer system will commence this spring in Monongalia County.
Janet L. Metzner, “State to unify court records on the Internet: Mon magistrate clerk is helping to form system,” The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.), 28 Sept. 2006
Indiana Gets Federal Grant for Protection Order Registry
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard have announced that the state has received a $259,000 grant from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics to create the Indiana Protection Order registry that will link Indiana courts with the existing Indiana State Police database to ensure all protection orders are entered and available immediately. "Until now, a judge’s protection order might not get into the hands of local law enforcement for days – a situation that is unacceptable and too dangerous to continue. By creating this link between the courts and law enforcement we can better protect those we are here to serve,” said Chief Justice Shepard.
Martin DeAgostino, “Registry to help police enforce protective orders; Streamlined system would give police more immediate access,” South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, 3 Oct. 2006: B3
