CJITI WEEKLY NEWS: Covering
Law Enforcement, Corrections & Courts across the United States
| Vol. 2 #45 February 22, 1999 |
#1 Oregon State Police post photos of missing children on web site
#2 Windsor (CT) Police to upgrade dispatch system
#3 Kershaw County (SC) hopes to get live scan fingerprinting system
#4 Michigan crimes solved by AFIS check
#5 Los Angeles receives grant for non-emergency 311 system
#6 Illinois Law Enforcement plans better tracking of juvenile crime
#7 Videoconferencing expanded in N.Y.C. Federal courtrooms
#8 Taking
samples of parolee's DNA for Alabama database
LAW ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
[Source: "Faces of Missing Children Go On Internet to Help Solve Cases; Age-Enhancement Photo Capabilities Make the Web Sites Important Tools in Nationwide Searches" by Mark Larabee; The (Portland) Oregonian, February 18, 1999, Pg. D4]
Item #2 WINDSOR (CT) POLICE TO UPGRADE DISPATCH SYSTEM
The Windsor (CT) Town Council has approved a plan under which its police would spend $493,241 over five years to participate in a consortium purchase of Lucent's Palladium records management and dispatch hardware and software. The other departments involved in the systems upgrade-- which promises much faster processing of 911 calls-- are Manchester, Coventry, South Windsor and Newington.
[Source: "Police to Upgrade Computer System" by Marie Shanahan; Hartford (CT) Courant, February 18, 1999]
Item #3 KERSHAW COUNTY (SC) HOPES TO GET LIVE SCAN FINGERPRINTING SYSTEM
Law enforcement officials in Kershaw County are hoping to receive a Federal grant to purchase $80,850 of live scan fingerprinting equipment. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division still needs to approve the request, but Kershaw County hopes to have the equipment online by summer.
[Source: "Kershaw Wants to Go High Tech with Fingerprints" by Kenneth A. Harris; State (Columbia, SC) February 18, 1999, Neighbors Pg. 1]
Item #4 MICHIGAN CRIMES SOLVED BY AFIS CHECK
A man in the Oakland County (MI) Jail last week under one name for pending weapons charges was identified by his fingerprints as another individual, and was also found to be the suspect of several armed robberies from fingerprints found at a crime scene. The FBI had the suspect's fingerprints on file because of a previous conviction, and the Oakland County AFIS check made the match. The suspect later confessed to five robberies.
[Source: "Suspect's Fingerprints Blow Alias; Computer Check Results in Charges In 3 Armed Robberies" by Brian Murphy; Detroit Free Press, February 11, 1999, Pg. 6B]
Item #5 LOS ANGELES RECEIVES GRANT FOR NON-EMERGENCY 311 SYSTEM
Los Angeles was recently awarded a $900,000 federal grant to establish a 311 telephone system to handle the non-emergency calls which now make up 80% of all its 911 calls. It will cost between $3.5 and $5 million to develop 311 in L.A. and employ staff to handle calls in the first year of the new system, but the use of 311 in other cities has greatly reduced response time to real emergency calls.
[Source: "L.A. to Get Grant for Nonemergency 311 Phone System" by Matt Lait; Los Angeles Times, February 19, 1999, Pg. B1]
Item #6 ILLINOIS LAW ENFORCEMENT PLANS BETTER TRACKING OF JUVENILE CRIME
Police across Illinois will begin transmitting juvenile arrest fingerprints and mug shots into a state database by the end of the year as required by the state's new Juvenile Justice Bill. Police will use live scan records to better track and deal with juvenile crime in hopes that criminals who commit dozens of crimes across various counties can be treated differently than first-time offenders.
[Source: "McHenry County eager to use new juvenile offender database" by Bill Cole; Chicago Daily Herald, February 8, 1999]
COURT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Item # 7 VIDEOCONFERENCING EXPANDED IN N.Y.C. FEDERAL COURTROOMS
Videoconferencing was recently added throughout New York City's 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals building, which will allow witnesses, lawyers and litigants to participate in hearings from remote locations. Eight more Federal courtrooms in the circuit will get Objective Communications Inc.'s VidPhone System over the next two years.
[Source: "Videoconferencing gets its day in court" by Colleen O'Hara; Federal Computer Week, February 8, 1999. For complete article go to: http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1999/0208/fcw-agvideo-2-8-99.html ]
CORRECTIONS TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Item #8 TAKING SAMPLES
OF PAROLEES' DNA FOR ALABAMA DATABASE
Alabama parole officers are taking saliva samples from convicted felons to add to both the state's Department of Forensic Sciences files as well as to the FBI national database of sexual and violent offenders. About 60,000 samples have been gathered since the 1994 law went into effect mandating DNA testing of convicted felons.
[Source: "DNA Bank Storing Samples of felons' saliva" by Jaronda Little; The Birmingham (AL) News, February 17, 1999]
CJITI Weekly News is compiled by Jeffrey Michaels jeffreym@mitretek.org