CENTER FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH WEEKLY NEWS: Covering Law Enforcement, Corrections & Courts across the United States
 

Vol. 3 #21 August 30, 1999

The Monroe (Louisiana) Police Department has installed about 35 IBM Thinkpad laptop computers in its squad cars as the first phase of its three-year communications upgrade. The department has received $1.5 million in federal grants, and eventually hopes to install laptops in all 80 of its vehicles. The computers will be linked to the state's criminal records database, and will operate on Motorola's 800-megahertz radio system.

[Source: "Police in Monroe go high-tech with laptops in patrol cars" by Leisha Bounds; The (Baton Rouge, LA) Advocate, August 23, 1999, Pg. 3B]

Top of Page
 

Item #2  WARREN (MI) POLICE TO GET SQUAD CAR LAPTOPS

The Warren (Michigan) Police Department will begin testing different laptops over the next few weeks to determine which model will be added to at least 50 of its cruisers to replace existing mobile data terminals.  Models to be tested include Motorola, Panasonic, Microslate, Xplore and Data911, all of which will cost roughly $8,000 each to be installed.

[Source: "Warren cops turn to laptops for instant crime-fighting" by Hawke Fracassa; Detroit (MI) News, August 24, 1999, Pg. D5]

Top of Page
 
 

Item #3  NASHVILLE (TN) POLICE COMPILE DATABASE OF VIOLENT JUVENILE OFFENDERS

The Metro Nashville (Tennessee) Police Department has compiled a list of the city's most violent youth offenders for use by its officers. The list, a product of the Youth Services Division, will soon be put into database form so officers will be able to quickly discover which juveniles have committed or attempted at least two violent crimes in the last three years.

[Source: "List Lets Police Keep Tabs on Worst Young Offenders" by Beth Warren; The Tennessean (Nashville, TN) August 24, 1999]

 Top of Page
 
 

Item #4  CHICAGO (IL) POLICE TO USE COMPUTERS TO BETTER TRACK COMPLAINTS

By the end of September, the Chicago Police Department's Internal Affairs Division will have a new computer system online to improve the tracking of complaints against officers.  The new system will monitor trends, and be able to flag those officers who receive an unusual number of complaints.

[Source: "Cop Computer to Keep Track of Complaints;" Chicago (IL) Tribune, August 21, 1999, Pg. 5]

 Top of Page
 
 

Item #5  DURHAM (NC) POLICE TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES

The Durham (North Carolina) Police Department is performing final testing of its squad car laptops, and officers will soon be able to use the $10,000 computers. In a separate initiative, the records division's new scanning system is helping the department clear up its backlog of residents' requests for copies of files by supplying copies electronically.

[Source: "Police car computers almost online; Also, scanners in records division are expected to help relieve a backlog" by Kammie Michael; The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC) August 22, 1999, Pg. B1]

Top of Page
 

Item #6  FRANKLIN COUNTY (ME) SHERIFF'S OFFICE PREPARES FOR Y2K

The Franklin County (Maine) Sheriff's Department recently reported that its systems are all Y2K-compliant and fuel supplies have been added to make sure generators can power its essential equipment in the event of any power failures. The Sheriff was one of the speakers invited to address the Farmington-Area Y2K committee, which plans to keep the public informed as Y2K approaches.

[Source: "Franklin County getting ready for Y2K" by Betty Jespersen; Central Maine Morning Sentinel (Waterville, ME), August 20, 1999, Pg. B2]

Top of Page
 
 

 COURT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
 

Item # 7  POLK COUNTY (FL) COURT WEB SITE OFFERS RECORDS INDEX

The Polk County (Florida) Clerk of the Courts has made its official records index available for free on the Internet. The indexed documents can be ordered for a small fee, and the index can also be purchased in both CD-ROM and diskette formats.

[Source: "Court Records to Be on Internet"; The Ledger (Lakeland, FL), August 26, 1999, Pg. B1]

Top of Page
 
 

 CORRECTIONS TECHNOLOGY NEWS
 

Item #8  DIGITAL BOOKING AT TULSA COUNTY (OK) JAIL

The Tulsa County Jail, run by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, has begun using its LiveScan fingerprint system for the digital booking of new prisoners. The $100,000 system offers electronic fingerprinting, which produces prints more accurately and much more rapidly, with prints checked against the state's automated fingerprint identification system at the time of booking.

[Source: "Tulsa County Tries Ink-Free Booking" by Renee Ruble; Daily Oklahoman, August 24, 1999]

 Top of Page

Center for Criminal Justice Technology Research Weekly News is compiled by Jeffrey Michaels jeffreym@mitretek.org