CJITI WEEKLY NEWS: Covering Law Enforcement, Corrections & Courts across the United States
 

Vol. 2 #43 February 8, 1999

 

The Knoxville (TN) Police Department is using a COPS MORE grant to purchase laptop computers for its 260 squad cars. The $1.8 million project will offer officers silent dispatch communications as well as improved records searching. The department has decided to create a technical services unit to support its technology upgrades.

[Source: "KPD to quiet down; New laptops let officers practice silent dispatching" by Jamie Satterfield; Knoxville (TN) News-Sentinel, January 28, 1999]
 
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Item #2  PLANO (TX) POLICE TO GET SQUAD CAR LAPTOPS

The Plano (TX) Police Department recently received City Council approval for a $1.3 million systems upgrade that will equip police department squad cars with laptop computers capable of transmitting photographs and fingerprints. In addition to the purchase of 93 computers, the department will also make its communications equipment Y2K-compliant, with both efforts receiving funding from the city's budget surplus.

[Source: "Funds to upgrade police computers; $1.3 million overhaul to put sophisticated laptops in squad cars" by Jennifer Packer; The Dallas Morning News, February 2, 1999, Pg. Z1]

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Item #3  MICHIGAN SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY NOW ON THE WEB

The Michigan Department of State Police has created a Sex Offender Registry of 10,000 state residents convicted of such crimes since October 1995. The site received over 1,000 visits an hour on its first day of operation.

[Source: "Sex-Offenders List Debuts on Web Lansing" by Tribune News Service; Chicago Tribune, February 2, 1999, Pg. A4]

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Item #4 ANCHORAGE (AK) POLICE POST INTERNET MOST WANTED LIST

The Anchorage (AK) Police Department has set up a Most Wanted List on its web site, hoping to get tips on some of the 300 criminals suspected of being in the area. Police will post names of criminals wanted by any jurisdiction if they are thought to be in Anchorage. Other most wanted lists in Alaska include two from Alaska State Troopers-- the Criminal Intelligence Unit site and D Detachment site.

[Source: "APD Weaves Manhunts Into Web" by Peter Porco; Anchorage Daily News,  January 28, 1999, Pg. B1]

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Item #5 FARGO (ND) POLICE TO GET LAPTOPS

The Fargo (ND) Police Department expects to upgrade squad car computers by July, replacing dumb terminals with laptop units that offer far more functionality. Officers will be able to perform their own license plate checks as well as write reports without the aid of dispatchers.

[Source: "North Dakota news briefs;" Associated Press State & Local Wire, January 30, 1999]

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Item #6  INDIAN RIVER COUNTY (FL) SHERIFF'S OFFICE GETS LAPTOPS

The Indian River County Sheriff's Office recently received a $68,000 COPS MORE grant which was used to purchase ten Cycomm PCMobile laptop computers for its cruisers, and funding is currently being sought to buy laptops for an additional 90 cruisers. The new equipment will allow officers to transmit photographs and fingerprints once NCIC 2000 goes online in July 1999.

[Source: "Laptop Computers Give Sheriff's Deputies an Edge" by Jeremy Milarsky; Press Journal (Vero Beach, FL) January 29, 1999, Pg. A4]

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  COURT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
 

Item # 7 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY (PA) COURT RECORDS GO ONLINE

Civil and Criminal court opinions from Northampton County, Pennyslvania are now available on the County's Court of Common Pleas web site . Opinions from 1993 to the present are included, and individual case material may be added in the future.

[Source: "Court Opinions Now Available on Web" by Lauri Rice-Maue; The Morning Call (Allentown, PA) January 27, 1999, Pg. B3]

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CORRECTIONS TECHNOLOGY NEWS

 
Item #8 BUFFALO (NY) POLICE HOPE INMATE TRACKING SYSTEM WILL PREVENT SUICIDES

The Buffalo Police Department plans to link its jail with a statewide inmate tracking system within the next few months, hoping improved information on inmates will prevent suicides. The department handles about 22,000 inmates annually, and knowing which ones attempted suicide in the past will make it easier to improve monitoring of them.

[Source:  "State Will Employ Computer System to Reduce Rate of Prison Suicides" by Lou Michel; Buffalo News, January 30, 1999, Pg. 1C]

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CJITI Weekly News is compiled by Jeffrey Michaels jeffreym@mitretek.org