NCIS Database for Puget Sound Region
A dozen law enforcement agencies in the Puget Sound area of Washington state plan to participate in the Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LINX), an information sharing program under development by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Negotiations to build the $1 million-plus system are under way, and by next spring police will be able to access local, state and federal databases with a sophisticated search engine. NCIS hopes LINX will help protect naval resources in the Puget Sound region such as aircraft carriers and Trident submarines.
Source: "Data Exchange Critical in Nabbing Terrorists; Out of Frustration Regional Agencies Form Their Own Network" by Paul Shukovsky and Mike Barber. Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer, 29 Nov. 2003: A1
BJS Report on State Criminal Records Security
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released a new report titled Compendium of State Security and Privacy Legislation: Overview 2002 that references and classifies state legislation on privacy and security of criminal history record information. Statutes are grouped into 29 categories and presented both by classification and by state. The introduction summarizes changes and key issues that have arisen during the preceding three years.
Source: "Compendium of State Security and Privacy Legislation: Overview 2002." Bureau of Justice Statistics, Nov. 2003
Chapel Hill (NC) Police Get New Cruiser Laptops
The Chapel Hill (NC) Police Department will get 10 computers for patrol cars, using $50,000 from the town's general fund and another $50,000 from the computer replacement fund. Half of the town’s 40 patrol cars are currently equipped with laptops, and the department hopes to have computers in all its cruisers within three years. Reports entered into the cars' computer units go directly into the police records system.
Source: "More police cars to get computers" by Ann S. Kim. The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), 29 Nov. 2003: B1
S. Dakota Highway Patrol Gets Cruiser Laptops
The South Dakota Legislature has approved the use of $638,000 in federal domestic violence prevention funding to buy laptop computers for 110 Highway Patrol cars. The computers will be linked to the new state digital radio system for instant access to criminal records, and will also allow troopers to complete paperwork in their vehicles.
Source: "Troopers to get car computers, schools to get defibrillators" by Joe Kafka, Associated Press. Bismarck (ND) Tribune, 2 Dec. 2003: 4C
Maine Sex Offender Registry Now Online
The Maine Department of Public Safety plans to launch an online sex offender registry on Dec. 1, providing residents with a user-friendly public safety tool. The Department of Public Safety was instructed by the Legislature to have the system up and running by the end of the year. The online registry will include the sex offender's name, age, conviction details, photograph, and city or town of residence.
Source: "Internet registry to list sex offenders; Maine's public safety commissioner says the new registry will not take the place of local notification efforts" by David Hench. Portland (ME) Press Herald, 28 Nov. 2003: 1B
Computer Forensics in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts State Police five-person computer forensics unit has seen a rise in its caseload -- from 108 cases in 2001, to 180 in 2002, to 196 cases so far in 2003. The state boasts other computer forensics units, including those of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the Boston Police Department, the Medford Police Department regional lab that serves about 40 communities in Middlesex and Essex counties, and the Raynham Police lab that covers Southeastern Massachusetts. A simple case usually takes eight to 16 hours of staff time, but most cases take an investigator 80 to 100 hours.
Source: "Digital Crackdown Law Enforcement Members Get Training in Computer Forensics to Help Nab Criminals" by Hiawatha Bray. The Boston (MA) Globe, 1 Dec. 2003: C1
