$4.4M system upgrade for Mesquite (TX) Police
The Mesquite (Texas) Police Department and Fire Department have begun a $4.4 million computer systems upgrade, to be completed by October 2003, that will replace an obsolete communications system from a now defunct company. The system will include 110 laptops for police vehicles, 23 laptops for fire units, and 10 computers for the police criminal investigation division. The system will enable officers to run license plates and check arrest warrants from their vehicles, and will include automatic vehicle locator technology to keep track of emergency vehicles. In addition, some officers will get PDAs with full searching capabilities.
Source: "Rescue vehicles to get laptops; Council OKs new police, fire computers;" The Dallas (TX) Morning News, June 20, 2002
DNA cold hit made on 1998 NYC rape case
A DNA cold hit by the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services has identified the man who sexually assaulted and robbed a sales clerk in a New York City department store stock room on January 16, 1998. The suspect, currently serving a prison term in New York, was required to provide a DNA sample upon his last conviction. The state’s growing DNA database has helped close at least 32 unsolved crimes since the first match was made in February 2000.
Source: "DNA IDs Con as Macy's Rapist" by Al Guart; The New York Post, June 30, 2002
Iowa police use of satellite technology
The Bettendorf (Iowa) Police Department is using an automatic vehicle locator system to improve officer safety and dispatch the closest vehicle to 911 calls. A $73,500 U.S. Department of Justice local law enforcement block grant funded the purchase of the global positioning satellite technology. The Scott County (Iowa) Sheriff's Department also uses the locator system to keep track of its 25 squad cars on every road in the county.
Source: "Police in eastern Iowa use satellite technology to fight crime;" The Associated Press State & Local Wire, July 1, 2002
Lincoln (RI) Police get squad car laptops
The Lincoln (Rhode Island) Police Department has purchased six squad car laptops, using grant funds and $25,000 in matching city funds. The computers will allow officers to run license plates and instantly access criminal records databases from their vehicles without using dispatchers. Officers can also use the computers to prepare reports while on patrol and communicate with headquarters and other officers by silent dispatch.
Source: "Dashboard computers to soup up cruisers" by David McFadden; The Providence (RI) Journal-Bulletin, July 1, 2002, Blackstone Valley Edition Pg. B1
Digital red light camera in Howard County, MD
The Howard County (Maryland) Department of Police has placed a digital camera at a red light intersection, the first such camera use in the state. The county has installed 24 standard-film red light cameras since 1998, but those require photos be collected and then developed. The new camera will transmit digital images of violators instantly over telecom lines, speeding up the citation process and cutting up to 65% of the involved labor costs. Howard County has ordered three more digital cameras, and neighboring counties are waiting to see if the cameras' extra cost provides the expected cost savings before buying their own.
Source: "Ticketing goes digital in Howard County" by Julie Bykowicz; The Baltimore (MD) Sun, June 25, 2002, Howard edition Pg. 1B
CRIMES goes online in Hampton Roads, VA
After nearly a year of testing, seven police departments in Virginia's Hampton Roads region have begun sharing records over the Comprehensive Regional Information Management Exchange System (CRIMES). The system allows participating departments to view each other’s felony and misdemeanor arrest records, and was initially funded several years ago by a $1 million federal grant. CRIMES searches can be run on people, vehicles, nicknames and Social Security numbers in databases of all participating police departments: Newport News , Hampton , Chesapeake , Norfolk, Portsmouth , Virginia Beach and Suffolk .
Source: "CRIMES Puts Facts in Reach of Police" by David Chernicky; Daily Press (Hampton Roads, VA) July 2, 2002, Pg. C1
