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

Vol. 2 #44 February 15, 1999

 

Law enforcement officials in several New Jersey counties will soon have access to the state's Family Automated Case Tracking System (FACTS), an online registry of domestic abuse restraining orders and other related information. The database will allow officers responding to domestic calls to know immediately what court orders may be in effect. New Jersey State Police already use FACTS when approving gun permits, since individuals with restraining orders in place against them are not allowed to purchase weapons.

[Source: "Domestic Violence Database New Tool For Cops" by Associated Press; Philadelphia Daily News, February 9, 1999, Pg. 13]
 
 Top of Page
 

Item #2  GRANT COUNTY (WI) SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT TO UPGRADE LIVE-SCAN

The Grant County Sheriff's Department recently received a COPS MORE grant of $8,482 to develop an interface between its live-scan automated fingerprinting equipment and its records management system. The grant will allow the department to optimize its use of fingerprinting equipment.

[Source: "Grant County Awarded Money for Fingerprinting;" Wisconsin State Journal, February 2, 1999, Pg. 5B]

Top of Page

Item #3  ALBUQUERQUE (NM) POLICE MAKE PLANS FOR Y2K SYSTEMS FAILURES

The Albuquerque (NM) Police Department is making plans for possible computer problems arriving with the new millennium, and will not allow any of its 850 officers to take vacation from December 30, 1999 through January 3 of 2000.  If telecommunications or power blackouts occur the department wants to have all its officers available. This policy could change based upon reports the APD receives over the next few months.

[Source: "Y2K Will Be No Vacation for APD" by Jeff Jones; Albuquerque (NM) Journal, February 4, 1999, Pg. A1]

 Top of Page

Item #4 PALM BEACH COUNTY (FL) SHERIFF'S OFFICE USING CRIME ANALYSIS TOOL

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is using a crime analysis tool called Palm STAR, (an abbreviation for Systematically Tracking and Assessing Results) that cost about $60,000. The system is modeled after the NYPD's COMSTAT (computer-driven statistics) which allows crime to be tracked by locations across the county so resources can be allocated where most needed.

[Source: "County War on Crime Stars . . . New High-Tech System" by Miguel Garcilazo; Florida Sun-Sentinel, February 8, 1999, Pg. 1B]

 Top of Page
 

Item #5 SOMERSET (MA) POLICE USING SQUAD CAR LAPTOPS

Somerset (MA) Police received a $73,000 state grant and spent $28,000 in town funds to develop a laptop computer system for its squad cars. The town shares the radio tower of the nearby Fall River Police Department which is used to transmit background search requests from squad car computers to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Boston.

[Source: "Police Shift to new Function for Control; Laptop computers in  cruisers give officers all the information they need at their fingertips" by Elisa Crouch; Providence (RI) Journal, February 9, 1999]

Top of Page 
 
 

Item #6  OXNARD (CA) POLICE GET GRANT FOR CAD SYSTEM

The Oxnard (CA) Police Department recently received a $381,473 COPS MORE grant that will be used toward the purchase a new Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management system. The system will be shared with the Oxnard Fire Department.

[Source: "Oxnard seeks new police computers" by Raul Hernandez; Ventura County (CA) Star, February 1, 1999, Pg. B2]

Top of Page
 

  COURT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
 

Item # 7 FULTON COUNTY (GA) COURT SYSTEM TO GET CJIS

The Fulton County (GA) Board of Commissioners has approved $19 million in contracts to develop the county's criminal justice information system designed to link courts, corrections and law enforcement. The Board approved $17 million in payments to Hitachi for the bulk of the work, and $1.9 million to IBM for its CJIS software.

[Source: "Fulton Approves Computer Deal for Court System" by Jay Croft; Atlanta Journal Constitution, February 4, 1999, Pg. C2]

Top of Page
 

CORRECTIONS TECHNOLOGY NEWS

 
Item #8 KNOX COUNTY (IL) USING HOME MONITORING SYSTEM ON SOME PRISONERS

The Knox County (IL) Sheriff's Department is using a new home monitoring system--from BI Inc. of Boulder, Colorado-- on 30 non-violent criminals a month, which eases overcrowding at the county jail. Prisoners wear tracking units on their ankles that set off an alarm if removed or if worn beyond 150 feet from the home receiver unit. Prisoners pay $10 per day if placed on the home detention system.

[Source: "Electronic aid studied for Knox County Jail; Monitoring system could increase home detention" by Kari Siegle; Peoria (IL) Journal Star, February 6, 1999]

 Top of Page

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