Michigan Database of Mug Shots and Tattoos
Michigan State Police have announced a Web database of mug shots, scars, marks and tattoos that will be made available to law enforcement agencies across the state. The Statewide Network of Agency Photos will grow as local police submit digital photos and other identifiers of booked suspects using Live Scan fingerprinting equipment. Since such information has already been gathered by many departments, State Police hope the new system will improve the identification of crime suspects through its search capabilities.
Source: "State police create statewide mug shot database;" The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 29 May 2003
South Carolina Anti-Terrorism Drill
South Carolina officials will hold a statewide anti-terrorism drill this week. The "attack" will involve weapons of mass destruction incidents in multiple locations to test the state's 15 rapid-response teams. The drill will have more than 1,700 participants, including the state's homeland security director, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Chief Robert Stewart, as well as FBI and other federal officials.
Source: "South Carolina conducts statewide terror drill" by Jeffrey Collins; The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 3 June 2003
Utah Anti-Terrorism Drill
The Bureau of Reclamation -- part of the U.S. Department of the Interior -- recently arranged an anti-terrorism drill at Flaming Gorge Dam in Utah, with the participation of about 225 officers from 19 local, county, state and federal agencies. The exercise was designed to test how agencies communicate, coordinate and respond to a terrorist threat at a remote dam and hydroelectric facility. Lessons learned will become part of a "template" for defending the 58 dams and hydroelectric plants the Bureau oversees in 17 Western states.
Source: "Flaming Gorge Dam Drills on Terrorism" by Christopher Smart; Salt Lake (UT) Tribune, 3 June 2003: B6
CODIS Solves Three Arizona Rapes
The FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) recently helped close three sexual assault cases in Arizona. A man serving 18 months for aggravated DUI, and therefore required to submit a DNA sample to CODIS, was subsequently linked to two 1996 rapes and one rape in 2000. He has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges.
Source: "Man sentenced to 35 years after DNA database matches him to three rapes;" The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 5 June 2003
Montgomery (AL) Police Track Pawn Shop Purchases
The Montgomery (Alabama) Police Department have signed up with a Web-based service that allows pawn shop owners to download their daily inventory into a national database that can be searched by law enforcement agencies seeking stolen property. Montgomery pawn shop owners, who by law have to give police a daily report of their inventory, seem to like the new system because it eliminates paperwork and is free of charge to them.
Source: "Montgomery police use new system to look for stolen property;" The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 28 May 2003
Harrison County (MS) Puts Arrest Records Online
The Harrison County (Mississippi) Sheriff's Department has become the first department in the state to put arrest dockets online. As a result, employees spend less time fielding phone calls from bail bond agents, inmates' families, and others seeking such information. The site, which includes records dating back to 1998, has received 26,000 hits since it went online in mid April.
Source: "Harrison County arrest records available at click of mouse" by Emily Wagster Pettus; The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 30 May 2003
