-
British law enforcement exploits flaw in iTunes to spy
British law enforcement agencies and Apple are coming under sharp criticism after it was discovered that authorities exploited a security flaw in iTunes to spy on individuals
-
-
Florida’s falling crime rate has experts puzzled
With unemployment at record highs and police departments struggling with budget cuts, the fact that Florida’s crime rate has fallen nearly 33 percent in the last decade has many experts puzzled
-
-
Sector Report for Tuesday, 29 November 2011: Law Enforcement Technology
This report contains the following stories.
Plus 1 additional story.
-
-
Texting 911 in emergencies
The Post Falls police department in Idaho is testing a new 911 system that would allow residents to report emergencies via text message or e-mail
-
-
LAPD named best counterterrorism squad
The Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau (CTSOB) recently received Government Security News’ highest honor for a division of its kind
-
-
Digital DNA the new DNA
With the increasing ubiquity of computers, smart phones, and other electronic devices comes a torrent of “digital DNA,” which can be used to record an individual’s every move and even convict them of a crime
-
-
Georgia to build privately funded first responder training center
A local firm in Georgia is set to build a privately funded training facility for first responders that would bring more than 100 jobs to Perry; the sophisticated training center, built by Guardian Centers of Georgia, would help prepare first responders for natural disasters and terrorist attacks
-
-
LAPD to rely solely on computers to fight crime
In an unprecedented move, for the next three months the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) will rely entirely on computer software to decide where to deploy patrol officers; the predictive analytics software examines data from past crimes to determine when and where certain crimes are likely to occur next so police can be on hand to stop them before they are committed
-
-
Insects to become first responders, aid in search and rescue
Researchers are finding ways to harvest energy from insects, holding the promise of using insects to aid in first response and search and rescue, and monitor hazardous situations before sending in humans
-
-
Early 9/11 responders at greater risk of heart disease
A new study warns that 9/11 responders who arrived immediately after the attacks could be at greater risk of heart disease; researchers examined the blood vessel walls of thirty-one 9/11 responders and found that the nineteen men and women who went to work before 13 September had much greater damage to their blood vessel walls than those who arrived later
-
-
DHS takes down suspected Mexican gang members in New York
On 16 November DHS agents arrested twenty-five suspected members of the Mexican Los Vagos gang on a variety of charges including murder conspiracy, assault, firearms offenses, narcotics trafficking, and immigration violations. Los Vagos allegedly used drug trafficking and violence to defend their turf from the Latin Kings, a rival gang
-
-
NYPD spying on Muslims leads to spiral of mistrust
Following the revelation that the New York City police department was spying on the daily lives of ordinary Muslims, community activists have launched a campaign encouraging people to avoid directly reporting suspicious activity to the police
-
-
Pennsylvania’s homeland security office to operate out of state police HQ
The Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Homeland Security will move its operations to the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) headquarters in Harrisburg; the office was merged into the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) during the previous administration, but the governor determined that relocating the office to the state police headquarters would result in an even greater combination of intelligence gathering and sharing
-
-
Harvard-designed swarm robots licensed to Swiss company
Harvard researchers developed Kilobot — a low-cost, easy-to-use robotic system for advancing development of “swarms” of robots; robot swarms might one day tunnel through rubble to find survivors, monitor the environment and remove contaminants, and self-assemble to form support structures in collapsed buildings
-
-
Irish police consider deploying drones
Police in northern Ireland are considering deploying small surveillance drones to help combat crime and the dissident republican threat as an alternative to helicopters; with police suffering budget shortages, many agencies cannot afford the roughly £7 million, or $11 million, a year it takes to maintain a helicopter
-
More headlines
The long view
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
Using Drone Swarms to Fight Forest Fires
Forest fires are becoming increasingly catastrophic across the world, accelerated by climate change. Researchers are using multiple swarms of drones to tackle natural disasters like forest fires.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
How Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations
“People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”
The Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies
From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.