DNA cold hit program in California
The Inglewood (California) Police Department recently made an arrest in a six-year-old case involving the rape and assault of a 14-year-old girl, with help from the state’s DNA Cold Hit Program . The new $50-million program, offered through the Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP), provides funding for DNA testing in cold cases. The goal is to increase utilization of the state’s 200,000 DNA profiles in the investigation of the state’s 30,000 unsolved sexual assault cases. Using such funding, the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department's forensic lab made a match in the Inglewood case, resulting in the arrest of a registered sex offender.
Source: “Program Leads to Suspect in Rape Crime: Man is arrested in 6-year-old Inglewood case” by Steve Berry; Los Angeles (CA) Times, August 23, 2001, Pg. B4
Westminster (MD) Police unveil new Web site
The Westminster (Maryland) Police Department has a newly redesigned Web site for interactive delivery of information to the public. New features will enable residents to email crime tips and download parking permits. The customer-friendly site also includes crime bulletins, daily logs of arrests and other criminal justice information.
Source: “Improved police Web site is online” by Maria Blackburn; The Baltimore (MD) Sun, August 16, 2001 (Carroll Edition) Pg. 3B
Drug-fighting communications network in Colorado
12 drug enforcement agencies around Denver, Colorado are using a $300,000 federal grant for a communications network designed to unify incompatible radio systems. The network uses a Lakewood Police communications tower, is operated by Lakewood dispatchers, and has already been used in a few arrests. Agencies throughout Colorado are expected to be linked on the system by next year, making use of it for multi-jurisdictional activities such as public disturbances and natural disasters. See the 2001 Counterdrug Research and Development Blueprint Update for more information on the Office of National Drug Control Policy grant program.
Source: “Technology Links Metro Drug-Fighting Agencies” by Charley Able; Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO) August 21, 2001, Pg. 18A
Biloxi (MS) Police have success with AFIS
Since mid-1999, when the Biloxi (Mississippi) Police Department purchased its automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS), the department has identified suspects in 191 cases. That is three times the amount generated before the $110,000 system went online. AFIS allows the department to access state Criminal Information Center fingerprint records and get results within minutes. Biloxi and Jackson are the only two city Police Departments in Mississippi with AFIS equipment.
Source: “Biloxi police computer fingers bad guys quicker;” The Associated Press State & Local Wire, August 26, 2001
Laptops for Monmouth County (NJ) law enforcement
The Monmouth County (New Jersey) Sheriff's Office and the Monmouth County Chiefs of Police Association are outfitting 225 patrol cars in the county's 35 municipalities with laptop computers. Officers will be able to run their own license plate checks and communicate with each other by instant messaging. During the testing phase, officers were able to get results from NCIC, New Jersey DMV, and other in-state and out-of-state records checks in as little as two seconds.
Source: “Police get laptops; Freehold, Colts Neck get new equipment” by Jennifer Taylor; Asbury Park Press (Neptune, NJ) August 23, 2001, Pg.F1
Pennsylvania's Protection From Abuse Database
The Protection From Abuse Database is an Internet archive of all protection from abuse proceedings, current and expired, throughout Pennsylvania. It is available only to authorized users, including police officers who can access the database 24x7 when responding to domestic situations. 41 of 67 counties in Pennsylvania are using the database, which was set up by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) .
Source: “Officials Tap Online Database to Help Curb Domestic Abuse” by Deanna Hall; Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette, August 5, 2001, Pg. N6
