Dane County (WI) police communications system
Three Dane County, Wisconsin police departments – Fitchburg, Middleton and Sun Prairie -- have agreed to share criminal records over a soon to be developed squad car communications system. The system will also allow officers to access Dane County Sheriff's Office records, as well as share digital photographs, fingerprints and other data. The new system will cost Sun Prairie $504,000, Fitchburg $333,000 and Middleton $334,000. Additional cities are contemplating whether to join the system.
Source: "Police Pool Forces for New Technology; Sun Prairie, Fitchburg and Middleton Will Have Access to High-Speed Police Records" by Gary Fisher; Wisconsin State Journal, March 1, 2003, Pg. B2
Whatcom County (WA) gets technology grant
Whatcom County, Washington was recently awarded a $1 million federal grant to buy a new computer system to facilitate improved information sharing among local law enforcement agencies and courts. These agencies currently use a variety of systems that are not interoperable for records sharing. The grant was arranged through the support of U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-2nd District.
Source: "County's 'mish-mash' of systems will mesh;" The Bellingham (WA) Herald, February 15, 2003, Pg. 3A
Anchorage (AK) Police get 911 grant
The Anchorage (Alaska) Police Department has won a $500,000 grant from the Public Safety Foundation of America to test advanced but still unproved 911 equipment that might help emergency dispatchers locate cellular callers by the longitude and latitude of the signal. Police officials say about 40% of 911 calls come from cellular telephones. The city is also planning to upgrade the entire 911 system through a $2.9 million bond that residents will vote up or down on April 1.
Source: "City wins 911 system upgrade grant" by Ben Spiess; Anchorage (AK) Daily News, February 22, 2003, Pg. B1
Grant for Port of Charleston, S.C.
The Port of Charleston, South Carolina recently received $13 million in federal funding for anti-terrorism measures. $9 million is for "Project Seahawk" – a law enforcement information sharing initiative — and $4 million is for equipment to screen cargo for radiological, chemical and biological weapons. The Project Seahawk Task Force was created to investigate suspicious cargo, vessels, and persons that might threaten the port, with participation by the FBI, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Coast Guard, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, local law enforcement and other federal, state and local agencies. A February 14, 2003 press release on this funding from South Carolina Sen. Fritz Hollings’ office is online at: ttp://hollings.senate.gov/~hollings/press/2003214515.html
Source: "Charleston port gets $13 million for project; Money will go toward command center, anti-terror, security measures;" The State (Columbia, SC) February 18, 2003, Pg. B3
Jefferson Parish (LA) Sheriff gets grant
The Jefferson Parish (Louisiana) Sheriff's Office recently received a $993,000 technology grant from the U.S. Justice Department to create a web-based records system that will be easier to manage and cheaper to maintain than its current records system. Since the system will be accessible from home computers, residents will soon be able to pay traffic tickets and other fines online with a credit card. The grant will also be used for new laptop computers and a backup computer network for the records system.
Source: "Sheriff gets technology grant; New system to allow online ticket paying" by Michelle Hunter; The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) February 25, 2003, Metro Pg. 1
New York's Regional Intelligence Center
New York’s Regional Intelligence Center will open a new headquarters this spring near Albany, absorbing an existing State Police crime analysis unit. The high-tech center will attempt to connect the dots in regional crime trends, using computers to identify patterns across the state. The center will also monitor the state’s 300 mile border with Canada, sharing information related to homeland security, illegal immigration, and drug smuggling with law enforcement agencies statewide.
Source: "State intelligence site to fight crime, terror" by Brendan Lyons; The Times Union (Albany, NY) February 23, 2003, Pg. A1
