Clarkstown (NY) Police nab suspect with Live Scan
Clarkstown (New York) Police recently used their Live Scan fingerprint system to capture a man with an active felony manslaughter probation warrant. The man used an alias at the time of his arrest on shoplifting charges, but when his booking fingerprints were submitted to the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) the ID was made. The Live Scan system, which went online in December 2001, was purchased for $100,000 using seized drug moneys and department funds.
Source: “New ID system aids in arrest; Clarkstown police learn information about Bronx man” by John Kryger; The Journal News (Westchester County, NY) November 30, 2002, Pg. 1A
New Mexico's homeland Security efforts
As part of its homeland security effort, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety (DPS) has distributed "threat cards" with anti-terror information and a toll-free DPS telephone number to about 200 city, state and federal law enforcement officers. New Mexico’s Strategic Plan for Homeland Security was released in September, and has already improved communication among law enforcement and emergency response workers. The plan is online at: http://www.dps.nm.org/homeland_strategic_plan.pdf
Source: “State's plan to fight terrorism is already helping;” The Associated Press State & Local Wire, December 4, 2002
Batavia (IL) Police get booking technology
The Batavia (Illinois) Police Department recently received $64,000 in state funding for a digital mug shot system and a Live Scan fingerprint system to improve booking of suspects. Booking prints can now be compared against Illinois State Police records in 30 minutes, a process that used to take weeks through the U.S. mail. While only 14 departments in Illinois had Live Scan systems in 2000 that figured has now increased to 200 departments.
Source: “Booking perps with 21st-century ease; Batavia police do away with messy ink, bulky forms” by Patrick Waldron; Chicago (IL) Daily Herald, November 28, 2002, Pg. F3
Sulphur Springs (TX) Police go wireless
Using a federal grant and some local money, the Sulphur Springs (Texas) Police Department recently purchased a $165,000 wireless communications system that allows officers to run their own license plate checks and communicate by silent dispatch. The new third-generation (3G) wireless network costs the department about $450 a month. Like many other rural law enforcement departments, Sulphur Springs abandoned its old radio network to save money on high infrastructure costs.
Source: “Rural police departments using advanced wireless networks” by David Koenig; The Associated Press State & Local Wire, November 30, 2002
Massachusetts homeland security efforts
Massachusetts' homeland security improvements were discussed at the recent Northeast Regional Emergency Management Conference, which was attended by over 900 officials. Although the state has developed and implemented several anti-terrorism measures – including syndromic surveillance in Boston hospitals, improved statewide emergency communications interoperability, and continued expansion of the Statewide Anti-Terrorism Unified Response Network (SATURN) — further improvements are necessary to fully equip the state in the event of an attack.
Source: “Antiterror plan gaps revealed; Inter-agency communication a problem” by John J. Monahan; Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA) November 22, 2002, Pg. A1
DNA cold hit for 1979 Calif. murder
The Contra Costa County (California) Sheriff's Office crime lab and the San Pablo Police Department recently received word of a DNA cold hit for the unsolved Aug. 25, 1979 rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in San Pablo. The suspect is a 57-year-old man currently serving an eight-year sentence for a 1998 child sexual assault conviction in Colorado, the crime for which his DNA sample was entered into the national database. The man was an acquaintance of the victim’s mother but had not previously been a suspect in the case.
Source: “DNA match reopens '79 killing case” by Karl Fischer and Claire Booth; Contra Costa (CA) Times, December 4, 2002, Pg. A1
