Miami County Sheriff Opts for Evidence Tracking Software
The Miami County, Ohio Sheriff's Department has purchased a user-friendly evidence tracking system, making it easy for the department’s property room manager to barcode and inventory all evidence in storage. The system was bought with a federal grant of about $15,000, which required 10 percent in matching funds.
Nancy Bowman, "Evidence room goes high-tech," Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, 13 Sept. 2007
Nebraska Plans Fusion Center and Communications Improvements
Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, who also serves as the state's homeland security coordinator, has announced the distribution of more than $7 million in federal funds as part of the 2007 Homeland Security grant program. Nearly half of the funding will be put toward the completion of regional communications networks used by first responders across Nebraska, while $1.6 million will be used to develop an information sharing fusion center.
Martha Stoddard, "State plans to complete communications system," Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, 13 Sept. 2007: B1
Grand Prairie Police Seek Recruits via Social Networking
The Grand Prairie Police Department has set up a MySpace page as a recruitment tool, hoping the online social networking site will attract attention from young people as it has for other law enforcement agencies nationwide. Some of the 190 MySpace "friends" who have visited the site have shown interest in joining the department.
Kathy A. Goolsby, "GP police set sights online; Department finds future recruits through MySpace page," The Dallas (Texas) Morning News, 9 Sept. 2007: B12
DNA Cold Hit in Massachusetts
A DNA cold hit has linked an inmate at Norfolk state prison to the rape of a 14-year-old girl at gunpoint on Nov. 1, 1998 in Worcester, Mass. The inmate had been scheduled to be released soon, having been sentenced in 1999 to 7 to 9 years in state prison on robbery, kidnapping and assault charges from an unrelated case.
Gary V. Murray, "Inmate charged in rape," Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), 8 Sept. 2007: A1
Connecticut First in Nation to Connect First Responders Statewide
At the Connecticut State Police Academy in Meriden on Sept. 5, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced a new $1 million radio system that will enable first responders across the state to communicate in emergencies. The technology, called Cross Band, plugs into existing police radio systems and will keep portable radios synchronized. "Connecticut first responders will be the first in the nation to have a common radio channel in place,” said Governor Rell. “State and local police will all be able to talk to each other on the same frequency. This is a major step forward, and Connecticut’s system will now be viewed as a model for the rest of the country.”
Tracy Gordon Fox, "Statewide Radio System Links Police," Hartford (Conn.) Courant, 6 Sept. 2007: B11
Maine Town Gets Technology Grant
The Farmington Police Department has received a $12,538 federal grant to upgrade the department's four cruiser laptops, allowing officers to run their own records checks without using dispatchers. Five local law enforcement agencies - as well as 17 area fire departments - rely on the Franklin Dispatch Center, and Farmington's pilot project is meant to encourage other area departments to improve officers' access to online records thereby preventing dispatcher overload.
Ann Bryant, "Justice grant will allow update of police laptops," Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine), 8 Sept. 2007: B6
