IDENT Nabs Murder Suspect at Mexican Border
The U.S. Border Patrol, now part of the Department of Homeland Security, recently arrested a Mexican national attempting to illegally enter the U.S. on a New Mexico highway. A standard fingerprint search using IDENT, the agency’s Automated Biometric Identification System, retrieved an outstanding Texas homicide warrant. Border Patrol agents turned the man over to the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department to await extradition to Texas.
Source: "Mexican suspect nabbed at border" by Jerry Seper; The Washington Times, 27 August 2003: A07
Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center
Pennsylvania State Police recently announced the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center, a 24x7 computerized intelligence-sharing system every law enforcement officer in the state can access through fax, telephone, or e-mail. State police intelligence analysts respond to inquiries using databases run by a 13-state anti-terrorism task force, a national tactical drug intelligence center, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other law enforcement and commercial databases. The system, intended primarily to fight terrorism, was paid for with state police funds and a $600,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
Source: "State police announce new intelligence sharing system" by Marc Levy; The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 28 August 2003
Trussville (AL) Police Get Patrol Car Laptops
The Trussville (Alabama) Police Department plans to purchase 14 mobile computer terminals for its patrol cars, using a U.S. Justice Department grant of $146,000 that requires 25 percent in matching funds from the city. The computers will allow officers to prepare reports electronically in their vehicles, keeping them in the field longer.
Source: "City to Get 14 Mobile Computers for Police Cars" by Anita Debro; Birmingham (AL) News, 20 August 2003
AFIS Helps Solve 1969 Houston Murder
Using fingerprint evidence found on the slain woman's car, Houston (Texas) Police recently announced an arrest in the 1969 murder and rape of a 25-year-old single mother, although matching the prints was not easy. The department needed help from the FBI's automated fingerprint database, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texarkana (Arkansas) Police Department to match the crime scene evidence with the suspect, who had not been a suspect in the crime. The man now charged in the case has been in and out of Texas prisons since 1961 for various crimes, including a 1976 arrest for attempted abduction.
Source: "Fingerprints lead to arrest in 1969 slaying" by Peggy O'Hare; The Houston (TX) Chronicle, 27 August 2003: A23
GAO Report on Terror Information Sharing
According to a report released by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), state and local government officials do not believe they are receiving enough terrorist threat information from the federal government. The report found that while government terrorist information sharing has increased, most state and local governments have implemented initiatives not necessarily coordinated with the federal government, and none of the three levels of government believe the current information sharing is adequate. The report, titled "Homeland Security: Efforts to Improve Information Sharing Need to Be Strengthened," is available online.
Source: "More Gov’t Sharing of Terror Info Urged" by Siobhan McDonough; Associated Press Online, 27 August 2003
Virginia Beach (VA) Police Facial Recognition System
Following the decision by the Tampa (Florida) Police Department to suspend using its facial recognition system, Virginia Beach, Virginia is the only location using the controversial security camera system. Virginia Beach has a mug shot database with around 700 photos of wanted local criminals, lost or missing children, and those on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and Most Wanted Terrorists List. Virginia Beach invested $150,000 in state grant money and $50,000 in city funds to set up its system. Since no extra money is needed to run the system, the police department believes the deterrent factor alone is worth keeping it online.
Source: "Tampa Shuts Down Surveillance Program; Beach Now Only City With Facial Recognition Technology" by Matthew Jones; The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), 21 August 2003: A1
