Washington State Patrol Gets Thermal Detection Van
The Washington State Patrol has purchased a $500,000 "thermal eye" van and equipment with a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant to identify trucks with bad brakes. Using heat-sensitive equipment, the van - the only one in the state - will be used primarily at weigh stations north of Deer Park and on Interstate 90 near the Idaho state line to increase safety and speed up inspections.
Amy Cannata, “Another eye on the road; WSP's high-tech patrol van detects unsafe trucks,” Spokesman Review (Spokane, Wash.), 11 April 2006: A1
DHS Looks at Boston Fusion Center as Possible National Model
The Department of Homeland Security wants to use the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) - an information exchange set up by law enforcement agencies - as a model while it works to develop a national network for sharing crime intelligence. The BRIC is housed at Boston Police headquarters, where it is home to crime analysts and the police intelligence unit, which gets together in a series of daily meetings with police from eight surrounding communities, state police, and federal officials to swap information about overnight crime, ongoing crime trends, gangs and significant anniversaries that may spell violence or protests.
O'Ryan Johnson, “A model of intelligence; Homeland Security considers replicating Hub system,” The Boston (Mass.) Herald, 8 April 2006: 2
New Mexico Joins LInX
A new consolidated statewide computer system will allow dozens of agencies to share information faster and "catch more crooks," New Mexico authorities say. The Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LInX) – currently online in five other states - should go online for part of New Mexico, including agencies in Bernalillo, Sandoval and Doña Ana counties by late summer.
Maggie Shepard, “Agencies to share database records,” Albuquerque (N.M.) Tribune, 10 April 2006: A1
Scanning License Plates for Stolen Cars in Maryland
In the past six months, Anne Arundel County Police Department’s three-man auto theft squad has used its new $22,000 digital tag reader to recover 12 stolen cars and four stolen tags and to make one auto theft arrest. Before the department got the new system, which includes two infrared cameras that can automatically identify and read license plates at a rapid rate, an officer had to type a tag number into their laptop computer to check if the vehicle was stolen - running no more than 100 tags in an hour.
Scott Daugherty, “Police 'ding' their way to stolen cars; Automatic tag reader credited with recovering 12 vehicles,” The Maryland Gazette, 15 April 2006: A4
Grant Received for Morris County, N.J. Law Enforcement Information Sharing
A second $1 million federal outlay was recently announced for the creation of an information-sharing network that is expected to link 40 law enforcement agencies in Morris County, N.J. by the end of this year. The Morris County Integrated Justice Information System (MCIJIS), once operational, will enable all police officers in Morris County to log on to a common network daily and share details about incidents and records.
Peggy Wright, “Police network gets second $1M federal boost,” Daily Record (Morristown, N.J.), 11 April 2006
