Virginia State Police Create Homeland Security Bulletin Board
With a click of a computer mouse, residents can access a secured Virginia State Police bulletin board that officials hope will educate users with timely terrorism-related information. The idea, officials say, is for the Virginia Critical Information Shared System (VCISS) to provide the public with information that could help Virginia's law enforcement community better protect them over a six-tiered system that allows access to information based on an individual's or agency's security clearance.
Source: Mark Bowes, "The Home Front Against Terrorism; Officials Hope Bulletin Board on State Police Web Site Will Provide Useful Information," Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch, 14 Aug. 2005: B1
Union County, N.C. 911 Center Seeks to be World Class
At the 911 headquarters in Union County, N.C. the calls come in 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and over the past year or so leaders have worked to transform Union's 911 services to meet rigorous national standards, adding equipment, training and staff. "Our goal is, when we're said and done, to have one of the finest 911 centers in the world," said county Homeland Security Director Pat Beekman, who oversees the communications department. "Our citizens, our first responders deserve that."
Source: Jen Aronoff, "911 Center Aims for Top-Tier Service,” Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, 21 Aug. 2005: 8U
Kansas Fusion Center Up and Running
The Kansas Threat Integration Center (KTIC) has been up and running for a year now at the cost of about $200,000, staffed by a National Guard member, a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent and a Highway Patrol officer. The state where the nation's most notorious domestic terrorist hatched his plans and acquired bomb materials has been operating trying to spot the next Timothy McVeigh or other terrorist threat.
Source: Lee Hill Kavanaugh, "Intelligence monitoring comes home to Kansas; 'One-stop shop' to spot threats," The Kansas City Star, 16 Aug. 2005: A1
Delaware County, Ind. Law Enforcement Information Sharing
Delaware County, Ind. has created a first-of-its-kind Web site, maintained by the Delaware County Emergency Management as an extension of a previously developed Web site, to improve intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies in central Indiana. The site is accessible only to authorized police and sheriff's departments, permitting officers to make entries on a series of logs or through chat rooms and messenger systems concerning criminal or suspicious activity.
Source: Nick Werner, "Web site helps area police share intelligence," The Star Press (Muncie, Ind.), 20 Aug. 2005: 3A
Making CAD Systems Interoperable During Emergencies
The Law Enforcement Information Technology Standards Council (LEITSC), a consortium of law enforcement associations funded through the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), is working with the Justice Department-funded IJIS Institute to address the problem of making computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems interoperable. The Advisory Committee on Law Enforcement IT Standards, as the new group is known, should have draft standards ready within a year.
Source: Joab Jackson, "Justice tackles standards for computer-aided dispatch systems," Government Computer News, 24 Aug. 2005
Rock Hill, S.C. Police Get Technology Grant
The city of Rock Hill, S.C. has been awarded a $48,128 federal grant to buy mobile data terminals (MDT) for police officers and fund recruiting. Although the grant will help purchase only five MDTs, the department hopes to place the upgraded technology in 75 cars within about three years.
Source: Charles D. Perry, “$48K grant to purchase computers for police cars,” The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.), 18 Aug. 2005: 1B
Mesh Network for Providence, R.I. Public Safety Agencies
Using federal grants from the Homeland Security Department and Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, the city of Providence, R.I., has announced a $2.3 million deal to install a mesh network wireless communications system for public safety agencies, replacing a Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) system. With this technology, police reports, suspect profiles, building blueprints and medical records can be instantly available as a crisis unfolds.
Source: Brian Robinson, "City adds wireless mesh for public safety," Federal Computer Week, 24 Aug. 2005
