Duchess County (NY) Police Use of Technology
Technology is improving the jobs of police throughout Duchess County, New York in various ways. Town of Poughkeepsie Police cars are equipped with computers that allow officers to run their own license plate checks. Town of Fishkill Police used 2002 federal grant funds to help pay for a new radio communications systems. City of Poughkeepsie Police are using a new digital booking system to take fingerprints and mug shots of suspects, making the booking process much faster and enabling easily compiled digital lineups for witnesses and victims.
Source: "Technology provides big boost to local crime fighters" by Kathianne Boniello; Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal, 4 May 2003
AFIS Hit Solves Illinois Truck Hijacking
The Village of Hoffman Estates (Illinois) Police recently arrested a suspect in a vehicular hijacking attempt because of a match found in the Illinois State Police Automated Fingerprint Identification System. The suspect, who left fingerprint evidence during the failed hijacking of a truck, has been charged with attempted aggravated vehicular hijacking, attempted armed robbery, aggravated unlawful restraint and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Source: "State database leads to arrest in vehicular-hijacking attempt;" Chicago (IL) Tribune, 8 May 2003
DNA Cold Hit Solves 1997 Wisconsin Rape
The Dane County (Wisconsin) Sheriff’s Office recently received word from the state Crime Laboratory of a DNA cold hit in the 1997 rape of a developmentally disabled woman. The man, who has now been charged with first-degree sexual assault by use of a dangerous weapon in the case, is currently serving a sentence for aggravated sexual assault in Texas. He has also served time for a string of Dane County burglaries.
Source: "DNA Match Leads to Rape Charge in 1997 Case" by Barry Adams; Wisconsin State Journal, 7 May 2003: C1
E-Ticketing by Saginaw County (MI) Police
Police in Saginaw County, Michigan have begun issuing electronic traffic tickets using computers in their patrol cars that forward the information automatically to the Saginaw County District Court. Police Departments in the county’s townships issue about 35,000 tickets a year. With the new process, officers no longer have to deliver hard copies of tickets to the courthouse or have ticket information entered into the court database at the end of each shift.
Source: "Police in Saginaw County to give electronic citations;" The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 5 May 2003
Internet Improves Community Policing Nationwide
Law enforcement agencies nationwide are using email alert systems and most wanted Web pages to get ordinary citizens involved in community policing. Michael Knapp, Chief of the Medina (Washington) Police Department, has set up a Community E-Lert program that sends emails to 1,200 subscribers targeting specific neighborhoods and categories of crime. Police in the small city of Fairmont, Minnesota created a most wanted Web site in late 2001, and have since arrested ten people from the list because of tips from the public.
Source: "New police tool: neighborhood watch by Web" by Dean Paton; Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA) 5 May 2003: 1
TOPOFF2 Drill to Test Law Enforcement
On May 12 and 13, the City of Seattle is scheduled to be one location of a federally staged emergency and rescue drill, called TOPOFF2 (Top Officials 2), designed to test the effectiveness of local, state, and federal emergency response officials and procedures in the event of a terrorist attack. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels believes the exercise will help his city improve terrorism preparedness. The TOPOFF2 drill will include the release of a "dirty-bomb" -- an explosion of radioactive substances -- which will then be dealt with by Seattle’s first responders and law enforcement officials, state health experts, and county, state, and federal government officials as if it were a actual attack.
Source: "Don’t Worry, It’s Only a Training Exercise; Next Week’s Nationally Mandated Drill Will Simulate a Terrorist Attack" by Hector Castro and Charles Pope; The Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer, 6 May 2003: B1
