Crime mapping in Lexington, KY
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County (Kentucky) Division of Police Web site has added a Citizen's Crime Watch Information Page that allows residents to monitor crime trends. This crime mapping application was developed through the combined efforts of Urban County's Geographic Information Services Department and the Lexington Division of Police. The Web site is intended to improve information flow to the community, and might also reduce the 400 written requests the police receive annually for such data.
Source: "Some Computer Users May Search For Criminal Activity in Area" by Brian Gomez; The Lexington (KY) Herald Leader, June 11, 2002, Pg. B1
Omaha (NE) Police offer online accident reporting
The Omaha (Nebraska) Police Department has added an Accident Report Request Form to its Web site, allowing residents involved in traffic accidents to fill out the form online. The department hopes to add gun registration and criminal records request forms in the future. The plan to allow residents to fill out forms from home was inspired by the Mayor’s desire to improve e-government services on Department Web sites.
Source: "Fahey likes step toward e-government; Accident reports now can be accessed over the Internet without going to the police station" by Deborah Alexander; Omaha (NE) World-Herald, June 7, 2002, Pg. 8B
Vernon (CT) Police get squad car software
The Vernon (Connecticut) Police Department was recently authorized by the town council to buy $147,950 worth of software and related equipment from an in-state company. The purchase will enable officers to file reports from their squad cars, increasing time spent on patrol. Federal and state grant funds will pay for roughly half the cost of the system upgrade.
Source: "Police to Get Computer Improvements" by Lee Foster; The Hartford (CT) Courant, June 19, 2002
S. Dakota Highway Patrol gets technology grant
The South Dakota Highway Patrol should soon receive a $6.5 million federal grant, much of which will be given to local police and fire departments for new radios that will comprise an upgraded, reliable statewide communications system. Since it had been expected that localities would have to pay half the cost of the radios -- which sell for about $3,500 each -- the federal grant is a welcome source of funding.
Source: "State gets money to pay for updated radios;" The Associated Press State & Local Wire, June 14, 2002
DNA cold hit on 1987 Oklahoma rape
The Tulsa (Oklahoma) Police Department recently received word of a DNA cold hit from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation DNA database for a 1987 rape case. The sample matched a state prison inmate, who has not yet been charged with the crime. A man who wrongfully served 14 years for the crime was freed in February after DNA testing proved his innocence. Soon after the announcement of the cold hit, Gov. Frank Keating signed House Bill 2790, which eliminates the seven-year statute of limitations on sex crimes under conditions such as new DNA evidence.
Source: "Evidence in wrong conviction fingers man in prison" by Nicole Marshall and Ginnie Graham; Tulsa (OK) World, June 6, 2002
Bibb County (GA) Sheriff's Office use of AFIS
Since the Bibb County (Georgia) Sheriff's Office is one of only 19 agencies in the state with direct access to the state’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) it enters booking and crime scene fingerprints for law enforcement agencies in 18 surrounding counties. AFIS matches have led to an increase in arrests and improved fingerprint gathering, because deputies have learned how powerful a law enforcement tool the fingerprint database can be. AFIS responses from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation can take as little as five minutes.
Source: "Bibb deputies going high-tech to track crime" by S. Heather Duncan; The Macon (GA) Telegraph, June 14, 2002, Pg. A1
