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Unused DHS fund help Pasadena upgrade helos
The city of Pasadena will use leftover funds from the 2008 Homeland Security Act to purchase a number of upgrades for its air operations unit; on 13 November the city council approved spending the remaining $650,000 of the original grant to purchase an array of high-tech devices, including an infrared camera, night-vision technology, and quiet technology tail rotor blades
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Sector Report for Tuesday, 15 November 2011: Law Enforcement Technology
This report contains the following stories.
Plus 1 additional story.
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Operation Vigilant Guard tests Arizona disaster response
More than 250 agencies and 8,000 emergency personnel recently participated in “Operation Vigilant Guard,” one of the largest emergency response exercise in Arizona’s history; participants were forced to respond to two scenarios — a catastrophic flood and the detonation of a ten-kiloton Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) in the Phoenix metropolitan area
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Better hospital responses to terrorist attacks
Terrorist attacks are less likely to occur than other disasters, but they can have greater impact on hospital operations; until the 9/11 and anthrax attacks, hospital emergency preparedness programs had not included provisions for terrorism events; those attacks changed that, but there is still much that should be done
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Budget cuts force military contractors to look inward for business
With U.S. military operations overseas drawing down and the U.S. defense budget likely to shrink , contractors are increasingly looking to domestic markets for their products
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Detergent suicides on the rise
The incidence of chemical suicides has been steadily increasing in the United States since its first appearance in 2008; it is believed the statistics are incorrect because of underreporting; most such suicides provide warning of the toxicity of the environment they will be found in, but not all do, making responding to these calls a hazard for all concerned
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Ballistic clipboard protects police from gun fire
Routine traffic stops, warrant calls and first responses have the potential of being some of the most dangerous moments in the field; a standard issue clipboard provides little in the way of reliable protection in the event of gunfire; a new clip board provides multi-hit protection against gun fire
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Highly-trained Indian K-9s join counterterror forces
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has a highly-trained unit in its force unlike any other in the world; police handlers have taught six Labradors to carry explosives in their teeth, sneak into terrorist lairs, plant remote-controlled bombs, hide secret cameras, interpret body language, and understand English and Hindi
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Detroit police push for ShotSpotter
Detroit police chief Ralph Godbee is pushing the city to purchase a $2.6 million automated gun-shot detecting system that he believes will help reduce violent crime; last summer, Detroit was hit by one of its most violent periods in recent history with 254 shootings that left fifty-two people dead in two months
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New York police officers equipped and ready to detect dirty bombs
Law enforcement officials operating in the New York City region are trained and equipped to intercept dirty bomb threats
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New digital steganography detection solutions
Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message, a form of security through obscurity; a Pennsylvania company offers a digital steganography detection solution
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Sector Report for Wednesday, 1 November 2011: Law Enforcement Technology
This report contains the following stories.
Plus 1 additional story.
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Mathematicians help LAPD fight gangs
UCLA mathematicians working with the Los Angeles Police Department to analyze crime patterns have designed a mathematical algorithm to identify street gangs involved in unsolved violent crimes
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New iOS Forensic Toolkit circumvents iOS 5 security measures
While Apple gave a minor facelift to the whole security system in iOS5, it made significant changes regarding keychain protection, replacing the encryption algorithm entirely; but criminals thinking they can thus use the latest iPhone and iPad devices to store information may want to think again, as a new information acquisition solution cracks the latest iOS5 security measures
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BVS helps U.K. prisons detect cell phones
Berkeley Varitronics Systems (BVS) has made quite a splash in recent weeks announcing a new partnership to distribute its cell phone detection technology in the United Kingdom, adding several options to its line of multi-band transmitters, and teaming up with Los Angeles Laker Andrew Goudelock
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The long view
Bans on Facial Recognition Are Naïve — Hold Law Enforcement Accountable for Its Abuse
The use of facial recognition technology has become a new target in the fight against racism and brutality in law enforcement. The current controversy over facial recognition purports to be about bias — inaccurate results related to race or gender. Osonde A. Osoba and Douglas Yeung write that “That could be fixed in the near future, but it wouldn’t repair the underlying dilemma: The imbalance of power between citizens and law enforcement. On this, facial recognition ups the ante. These tools can strip individuals of their privacy and enable mass surveillance.