CENTER FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE TECHNOLOGY
WEEKLY NEWS: Covering Law Enforcement, Corrections
& Courts across the United States
| Vol. 3 #33 December 13, 1999 |
#1 Baltimore (MD) Police retrieve stolen goods on web auction site
#2 Boulder (CO) Police use Web to post crime photos
#3 Iowa law enforcement use of GPS to track burglary suspect
#4 Hillsborough County (FL) Sheriff's Office success with AFIS
#5 Ohio gets new state crime lab
#6 West Virginia Public Service Commission use of laptops
#7 Federal court ruling on electronic court records
#8 Montana
prisons are ready for Y2K
LAW ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Baltimore (Maryland) Police were recently able to help a man retrieve a stolen prayer shawl and other religious items taken from his car which he found for sale on eBay, an online auction site. Baltimore Police made sure they bid the highest amount, and then met the seller who told police she bought the items at a flea market but might be able to recognize the alleged thief. eBay offers 400,000 new items for sale every day and reports that only a few are stolen or fake.
[Source: "Stolen items recovered in 'cyber sting'; Baltimore police officer enters winning bid after theft victim finds his belongings for sale at online auction house" by Peter Hermann; The Baltimore (MD) Sun, December 1, 1999]
Item #2 BOULDER (CO) POLICE USE WEB TO POST CRIME PHOTOS
Boulder (Colorado) Police posted photographs on the city Web site that were taken at a recent Halloween riot by University of Colorado students, and five students identified in the photos subsequently turned themselves in. The five were charged with felony counts of instigating a riot and misdemeanor counts of engaging in a riot during an incident in which police officers were injured and automobiles damaged by unruly students.
[Source: "Fifth Suspect in Riot Turns Self In; Pictures on Boulder Web Site Aid Police in Making Arrests" by Kevin McCullen; Denver (CO) Rocky Mountain News, December 4, 1999]
Item #3 IOWA LAW ENFORCEMENT USE OF GPS TO TRACK BURGLARY SUSPECT
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation obtained a search warrant to install a global positioning system tracking device on a car registered to a suspected burglar, and used the device to monitor the man's movements across the state by satellite. Instead of using officers to tail the suspects, GPS tracking allowed the DCI to match the location of the man and his son against burglaries in several counties.
[Source: "Police use satellite to track suspected burglars" by the Associated Press; Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) November 25, 1999, Pg. A9]
Item #4 HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY (FL) SHERIFF'S OFFICE SUCCESS WITH AFIS
A Hillsborough County (Florida) Sheriff's Office fingerprint examiner running a check of fingerprints from old cases through the state's Automated Fingerprint Identification System came up with several matches for an unsolved 1989 murder case. After further investigation, including a DNA match to crime scene evidence, a man has been charged with first degree murder.
[Source: "Ruskin man faces charge in '89 murder" by Jose Patin O Girona; The Tampa (FL) Tribune, December 3, 1999]
Item #5 OHIO GETS NEW STATE CRIME LAB
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) has a new $20.3 million crime lab, which will provide fingerprint, DNA and spent bullet analysis for all 932 of the state's local police departments. Last year, the state crime lab used its new automated fingerprinting system to check its 12 million records against prints from a 13 year-old murder case and identified a likely match within minutes, leading to a conviction. The new facility will have improved DNA labs and bullet testing facilities.
[Source: "Police get latest equipment; State crime lab goes high-tech" by Spencer Hunt; The Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer, November 30, 1999, Pg. B1]
Item #6 WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION USE OF LAPTOPS
Enforcement officers with the Public Service Commission of West Virginia will soon be able to run records checks on truck license plates, retrieving data on drivers and vehicles while on patrol without relying on State Police to perform the checks. All 41 officers will have their vehicles equipped with laptops and software for accessing state and national databases in their ongoing effort to keep unsafe trucks and truckers off the road, thereby improving safety and reducing truck accidents.
[Source: "Computers to help W.Va. truck safety inspectors" by Pam Ramsey, Associated Press; The Charleston (WV) Gazette, December 6, 1999, Pg. 7A]
COURT TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Item # 7 FEDERAL COURT RULING ON ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled in October 1999 that records kept in the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) federal court computer system must be as reliable as paper files. The court ruling was made in the case of a man who did not learn that documents closing his case were never entered electronically into PACER, and the ruling allowed his appeal to be revived.
[Source: "Court Orders Better Computerized Files for Federal Court Records" by Catherine Wilson, Associated Press; The Legal Intelligencer, December 9, 1999]
CORRECTIONS TECHNOLOGY
NEWS
Item #8 MONTANA PRISONS ARE READY FOR Y2K
The State of Montana Department of Corrections reports that its facilities are ready for Y2K, and should there be any power outages it has backup generators and manual controls for security operations. A prison spokesperson says it is the nature of corrections work to be prepared for emergencies, and Y2K is just another example of contingency planning.
[Source: "Prison says any Y2K problems won't benefit prisoners;" The Associated Press State & Local Wire, December 9, 1999]
Center for Criminal Justice Technology Weekly News is compiled
by Jeffrey Michaels jeffreym@mitretek.org