Cohoes (NY) Police nab murderer with fingerprint check
Cohoes (New York) Police recently captured a 19-year-old fugitive wanted for murder in Pennsylvania. Police ran his fingerprints through the state’s database after he was arrested for driving without a license and smoking marijuana. The man, who gave an alias at the time of his arrest, was discovered to be wanted for a March 2000 murder in Allentown, PA and an August 2000 attempted murder in York, PA.
Source: “Fingerprint check leads to man's arrest” by Bruce A. Scruton; The Times Union (Albany, NY) April 21, 2001, Pg. B4
Email tip to Mass. State Police leads to arrest
An email tip sent to the Massachusetts State Police Web site has led to the arrest of one of its most wanted fugitives. The man, wanted since 1984 on charges involving the kidnapping and rape of teenage girls, was captured in Texas. The Massachusetts Most Wanted list states the man is also wanted by the New Hampshire State Police for rapes that occurred in that state.
Source: “Most wanted Web site helps capture fugitive” by Tom Farmer and Jose Martinez; Boston (MA) Herald, April 6, 2001
Ada County (ID) Sheriff seeks wireless 911 tracking
The Ada County (Idaho) Sheriff's Office receives more than 600 911 calls from cellular phones each day, about 30% of all its 911 calls. Although the county has an enhanced 911 system that identifies the location of all calls received on land lines, the location of cell phone callers cannot be determined by dispatchers. Last week, the Ada County Sheriff's Office, following procedures established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), requested that area wireless companies supply callers’ phone numbers to the department and hope to receive locator technology for 911 calls by 2003. Go to the FCC’s Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) page for more information on wireless 911 calling issues.
Source: “Ada to enhance 911 ability; Technology will aid in locating cellphone users” by Julie Howard; The Idaho Statesman, April 28, 2001
Forsyth County (NC) Sheriff monitors high schools
The Forsyth County (North Carolina) Sheriff's Office has spent $84,000 in state grant funds to put security cameras linked to computers in two high schools. Tapes of activity recorded on the cameras will be saved for one month, and can be viewed real-time by deputies during episodes of school violence. 29 cameras were placed around each school--but not in rest rooms or locker rooms--three times more than the average found in most high schools that use security cameras.
Source: “Schools link surveillance cameras to computer monitors;” The Associated Press State & Local Wire, April 24, 2001
San Jose (CA) Police use fingerprints to arrest sex offender
San Jose (California) Police used a state fingerprint database search to match a partial fingerprint found on a window screen during the failed kidnapping of a 7-year-old girl. A 27-year-old local man with a history of sexual offenses allegedly entered the girl’s home but fled when she alerted her mother. He has been charged with burglary, attempted kidnapping, attempted child molestation, failure to register as a sex offender and parole violation.
Source: “San Jose; Sex offender arrested in kidnap attempt;” The San Francisco (CA) Chronicle, April 21, 2001, Pg. A18
Soddy-Daisy (TN) Police upgrade records system
The Soddy-Daisy (Tennessee) Police Department is upgrading its records management system as it joins a new communications network of Hamilton County law enforcement agencies. The new system will include police, court and 911 dispatch records, enabling police throughout the county to access each department's outstanding felony and misdemeanor warrants.
Source: “Soddy-Daisy police work to upgrade network” by Laure C. Martin; Chattanooga (TN) Times/Free Press, April 6, 2001, Pg. B10
