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

Vol. 3 #12 June 14, 1999

 

[Source: "New barracks, radios in works for troopers; 10-hour shifts, laptops on the way" by Mike Farabaugh; The Baltimore Sun (Carroll County edition) June 7, 1999, Pg. 1B]
 
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Item #2 ARLINGTON (TX) POLICE USE OF DIGITAL MUG SHOTS

Among the high-tech initiatives being successfully implemented by Arlington, Texas police are digital mug shots on the department intranet to quickly disseminate photographs to patrol officers. Such a photo was used last year to identify a convicted sexual offender violating his probation at a youth football game, and the man was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

[Source: "Technology Aiding Emergency Agencies" by Christy Gonzales; Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram (Arlington edition) May 31, 1999, Pg. 1]
 
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Item #3 VISALIA (CA) POLICE ALLOW CRIME REPORTING OVER THE INTERNET

The Visalia (CA) Police Department now offers a web site for residents to report non-emergency crimes. The site should make it far easier and faster for the public than requiring a visit or telephone call to a police station.

[Source: "Visalia Residents Can Report Some Crimes on Web Site" by Katie E. Ismael; The Fresno (CA) Bee, June 4, 1999, South Valley Pg. 2]

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Item #4 BUFFALO GROVE (IL) GETS GRANT FOR WIRELESS PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK
 
The Village of Buffalo Grove, Illinois recently received an $80,000 state grant to establish a wireless network linking its fire and police department vehicles with the village hall computer system. The wireless network will save the village $12,000 a year in telecommunications charges, and will be implemented in phases over the next year.

[Source: "Wireless network to assist village police, firefighters" by Shamus Toomey; Chicago (IL) Daily Herald, June 8, 1999]

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Item #5 SOUTH CAROLINA GETS GRANT FOR INTERNET GANG DATABASE
 
South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has been awarded a $315,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to link its gang database with those from nine other states over the Internet. Police in all participating states can access the database when they believe gangs are involved in a particular crime. Data on gang members, including photographs and other descriptive information, will be added only by officers specifically trained for the task.

[Source: "New Software Plugs SLED Into Gang-Watch Database" by Jennifer Holland, Associated Press; Charlotte (NC) Observer, June 5, 1999, Pg. 4Y]

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 COURT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
 

Item #6 YORK COUNTY RECEIVES VIDEO ARRAIGNMENT GRANT   

The Northern York County (PA) Regional Police Department recently received a $747,666 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to develop a video arraignment system to speed up initial processing of defendants when they are arrested. The funds will be used to purchase videoconferencing equipment to link booking centers with district justices 24-7.

[Source: "Arraignment delays to be cut; York County law enforcement is on the brink of centralized booking and district justices setting bail by video" by Caryl Clarke; York (PA) Daily Record, June 9, 1999]

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Item # 7  ARIZONA BANKRUPTCY COURT WEB SITE
 
The District of Arizona Bankruptcy Court is placing documents relating to the NationsWay freight company bankruptcy case on its web site as a pilot project for increasing public access to court information and decreasing costs to do so. The
paperless court records system will allow documents to be filed electronically, and thus accessed rapidly by all interested parties.

[Source: "McMorris show goes on the Web" by Don Knox; Denver (CO) Post, May 30, 1999, Pg. I01]

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CORRECTIONS TECHNOLOGY NEWS

 
Item #8  COLORADO SPRINGS (CO) POLICE BEGIN DIGITAL BOOKING
 
The Colorado Springs (CO) Police Department has spent $28,000 to develop an imaging system for digital mug shots at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center, which is run by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and takes about 27,000 pictures a year. The system greatly reduces the cost of taking pictures, and improves the speed at which investigators can access mug shots that need to be searched by witnesses to crimes.

[Source: "Suspects' mug shots captured by computer County jail goes digital" by Debra Franco; The (Colorado Springs, CO) Gazette, June 3, 1999]
 
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CJITI Weekly News is compiled by Jeffrey Michaels jeffreym@mitretek.org