Top 10 crime-fighting technologies, II
Today’s criminals avail themselves of the latest technological innovations in order to stay one step ahead of the law; fortunately, technological advances help law enforcement balance the criminals’ arsenals and keep societies safer than otherwise would be the case
Yesterday we listed five of the top 10 crime fighting technologies (No.10 through No. 6). Here is next five crime fighting technologies as offered by Mankani Deepa.
5. 3-D technology. Law enforcement agencies have finally found their new crime buster and it comes in the “avatar” of three-dimensional technology. It can pervade all aspects of law, right from nabbing the criminal to bringing him to justice.
It is now possible to create a 3-D image of a bullet that has been fired and then find a match from previous criminal cases of shoot-outs. The Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven, Connecticut can deftly produce 3D images of crime scene using software called DeltaSphere-3000 3D Scene Digitizer. Police in Japan have employed the technology for facial recognition to fight crimes committed by people of foreign origin. Three-dimensional images of public places and structures are being stored to help the police foil future terrorist attempts.
4. Property marking system. People can now mark their property and goods to deter trespassing and forceful entries. Many houses in the United Kingdom are using a generic property marker called SmartWater to deter thieves and burglars. This water-based solution, developed by Telford, Shropshire, U.K.-based SmartWater, can be sprayed or painted to mark one’s possessions with a unique chemical code. In cases of thefts, stolen items can be identified by the chemical “barcode” and returned to the actual owner.
3. Vehicle slowdown system. Car chase movie scenes just got shorter. General Motors has equipped its cars with a unique in-vehicle safety system called OnStar. Besides being GPS-enabled, the system also comes with a helpful vehicle slowdown feature. Cops can ask an OnStar operator to transmit a signal to the car being pursued. The signal restricts the vehicle’s fuel reserves and slows it down to about five miles an hour.
2. Body odor to sniff out criminals. It is now possible to use body odor as a biometric identifier to nab a culprit. A police canine research center in China is creating a unique database of people with criminal records. The center is collecting body odor of criminals so that they can be later used to match the smell in a crime scene with the help of their ace canines.
1. Vomit inducing flashlight. Researchers have developed a flashlight that is guaranteed to bring a fleeing criminal down on his knees. What else would he do when he is gripped by a sudden bout of horrid puking? The hi-tech flashlight (see “Flashlight Weapons Show Promise As Non-Lethal Systems,” 15 May 2008 HSNW) emits LEDs that can have psychophysical effects on a person. It can cause immediate immobility through extreme physical imbalance like disorientation and nausea.
