CENTER FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE TECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH WEEKLY NEWS: Covering Law Enforcement, Corrections
& Courts across the United States
| Vol. 3 #23 September 13/20, 1999 |
#1 Washington State Patrol audits use of laptops
#2 Dubuque County (IA) gets new public safety radio network
#3 Miami Lakes (FL) Police use database to track truants
#4 Oregon State Police web site highlights new recruits
#5 Estancia (NM) Police get first computers
#6 Illinois Wireless Information network to go online
#7 Editorial on need for court computers in Baltimore, MD
#8 Digital
booking by Fairfax County (VA) Sheriff's Office
LAW ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
A recent auditing firm's analysis of the Washington State Patrol's Mobile Computer Network Project found that troopers using wireless laptop computers in their cruisers arrested almost twice as many fugitives as their colleagues without laptops. The State Patrol now has about 350 cruisers outfitted with IBM Thinkpad computers through which records checks can be run without the aid of dispatchers.
[Source: "Wired cops make more arrests" by Julie Garner; MSNBC, September 10, 1999]
Item #2 DUBUQUE COUNTY (IA) GETS NEW PUBLIC SAFETY RADIO NETWORK
The Dubuque County (Iowa) E911 Service Board recently completed its $3 million 800-megahertz emergency radio system that allows every public safety agency in the county to communicate without going through a dispatch link. The system, six years in the making, is a public/private partnership between the Board and RACOM Corp., of Marshalltown, Iowa.
[Source: "County officials call E911 radio system success" by Craig Reber; Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) September 2, 1999, Pg. A3]
Item #3 MIAMI LAKES (FL) POLICE USE DATABASE TO TRACK TRUANTS
Miami Lakes (Florida) Police have begun using a database to keep track of students caught skipping school, and have arranged to share that information with area high schools and middle schools to better monitor repeat offenders. Police have noted a drop in crime when truant students are picked up and not allowed to loiter in area parks.
[Source: "Crime Declines as Police Attack Truancy" by Gigi Barnett; Miami (FL) Herald, September 5, 1999, Pg. 3NW]
Item #4 OREGON STATE POLICE WEB SITE HIGHLIGHTS NEW RECRUITS
The Oregon State Police Web site is highlighting the training program being undergone by its new class of recruits. The "Class Journal" section of the site will provide weekly updates on the class until its graduation in December.
[Source: "State Police Web Site Shows What Recruits Go Through;" Oregonian (Portland, OR) September 2, 1999, Pg. C04]
Item #5 ESTANCIA (NM) POLICE GET FIRST COMPUTERS
The Estancia (New Mexico) Police Department received a $3,000 COPS MORE grant last May, and recently purchased three computers using those funds. The department plans to use its first computers to track crime statistics and report them to the State Police for inclusion in FBI reports. The computers will also allow officers to prepare their reports electronically, speeding up the paperwork process and keeping them on the street longer.
[Source: "Grant Funds Assistant, Computers for Estancia Police" by Jennifer Archibeque; Albuquerque (NM) Journal, September 16, 1999, Pg. B7]
Item #6 ILLINOIS WIRELESS INFORMATION NETWORK TO GO ONLINE
The $14 million Illinois Wireless Information Network will be online within the next few months, and will be made available to all law enforcement departments in the state. Illinois State Police plan to have 100 cruisers hooked into the system by the end of the year, and another 700 by next summer. State Police officials estimate 10% of departments in the state will join the network, which will allow mug shots and other records information to be shared instantly to all linked cruisers.
[Source: "Cellular system creates new communication link for police;" Associated Press State & Local Wire, September 8, 1999]
COURT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Item # 7 EDITORIAL ON NEED FOR COURT COMPUTERS IN BALTIMORE, MD
This editorial asserts it is essential for the Baltimore, Maryland court system to be equipped with new computers and have its separate systems linked with routers and Internet connections: "No business can operate successfully without powerful computers. Neither can criminal-justice agencies, which depend on maintaining and exchanging accurate information and documents."
[Source: "Upgrading Baltimore's low-tech court system" [editorial]; The Baltimore (MD) Sun, September 9, 1999, Pg. 16A]
CORRECTIONS TECHNOLOGY
NEWS
Item #8 DIGITAL BOOKING BY FAIRFAX COUNTY (VA) SHERIFF'S OFFICE
The Fairfax County (Virginia) Sheriff's Office will begin using Live Scan fingerprinting equipment and digital photography for booking prisoners by the end of October. The new system will speed up booking and allow more accurate prints to be obtained. The FBI currently rejects 40% of the prints submitted by the County through the ink-rolled method. Live Scan will make it harder for criminals to assume aliases while being booked and will allow law enforcement to quickly find out if suspects are wanted in other jurisdictions, since the system checks prints against state and FBI files within two hours.
[Source: "Camera speeds booking; Fingerprints put in area database" by Ellen Sorokin; The Washington Times, September 14, 1999, Pg. C1]
Center for Criminal Justice Technology Research Weekly News is
compiled by Jeffrey Michaels jeffreym@mitretek.org