DNA COLD HIT ON 1991 CALIFORNIA MURDER
A DNA cold hit has linked a 42-year-old registered sex offender to the 1991 rape and murder of a 93-year-old woman living in an El Sereno, Calif. senior living facility. The case is the 30th murder solved through DNA analysis and detective work by the Los Angeles Police Department's cold case squad since it was formed in November 2001.
Source: “DNA Evidence Leads to Charges in 1991 Slaying; A registered sex offender is arrested in the beating death of a 93-year-old widow” by Arlene Martinez and Andrew Blankstein; Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2004: B1
ANAHEIM, CALIF. VIRTUAL OPERATIONS CENTER
Officials in Anaheim, Calif. have announced the roll out of an Enterprise Virtual Operations Center (EVOC), a virtual command center designed to help the city respond faster and smarter over a secure network during emergency situations. The EVOC, developed using a $1.2 million DHS grant, connects users to components that include a knowledge portal, incident management tools, geographical maps with area and building layouts, surveillance video and conferencing, and a GPS locator of first responder vehicles.
Source: “Crisis? All Hands Online in Anaheim; The city's virtual command center will let emergency responders get the lowdown fast” by Kimi Yoshino; Los Angeles Times (Orange County edition), 29 July 2004: B1
CARSON CITY, NEV. SHERIFF'S OFFICE GETS TECHNOLOGY GRANT
Using federal funding, the Carson City, Nev. Sheriff's Office plans to install laptop computers in 40 cruisers, enabling deputies to prepare reports in their vehicles and stay on patrol longer. The computers will also allow deputies to run their own license plate checks, speeding up response times and freeing up dispatchers to handle emergency calls from residents.
Source: “Deputies get high-speed connection to criminals” by Steve Timko; Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal, 23 July 2004: 1B
VIRGINIA CYBER CRIME TASK FORCE FORMED
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore announced the formation of the Virginia Cyber-Crime Strike Force to fight child pornography, Internet fraud, computer hacking and intellectual property crimes. Strike force members will include four FBI agents, an assistant U.S. attorney, two investigators and three attorneys from the attorney general's office, and one investigator from the Virginia State Police, all of whom will work out of the Richmond FBI Field Office's computer laboratory.
Source: “New Virginia Strike Force to Prosecute Cybercrime” by Tom Campbell; Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch, 23 July 2004: B2
IAFIS HELPS ARIZONA BORDER PATROL AGENTS
Since October 1, U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Tucson, Ariz. sector have used the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) to identify 8,283 undocumented immigrants with criminal records including child molestation and murder. Those arrests make up 2 percent of the roughly 404,885 apprehensions in the sector since the start of the fiscal year.
Source: “FBI System Helps Identify Migrants with Crime History; Border Patrol Nabs Sex Offender, Murder Suspect” by Susan Carroll; The Arizona Republic, 22 July 2004: 3B
POLICE ACCESS RHODE ISLAND INMATE DATABASE
Starting in September, law enforcement officers across Rhode Island will be able to access information on state prison inmates in a password-protected online database that includes addresses, nicknames, photographs, bunkmates, and other information on visitors, charges and sentencing dating back to the 1940s. The database was developed by Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) - part of the Rhode Island Department of Correction’s Division of Institutions & Operations - using a $332,000 Edward Byrne Memorial Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice as well as funds from the Rhode Island Police Chief's Association.
Source: “ACI plans online prisoner database” by Cathleen F. Crowley; The Providence (R.I.) Journal, 28 July 2004: B3
