• Eyes in the skyMiami Police first to use UAVs in a U.S. city

    The Miami-Dade Police Department could soon become the first police department in the country to employ unmanned drones; the department acquired two T-Hawk Micro Air Vehicles, manufactured by Honeywell, in August 2009, and has been testing and training with them since; it is now in the third phase of a three-phase testing program, and plans to apply soon to the FAA for final approval to use the drones in operations

  • Going greenCalifornia police use electric motorcycles

    The Scotts Valley Police Department is the first law enforcement agency in California to accept delivery of a Zero DS electric motorcycle; it will be a benchmark for evaluating the performance capabilities of the Zero DS in law enforcement situations, such as responding through traffic and on local bike trails

  • Ashland, Alabama, police adopts new technology

    Six years ago there was one computer in the Ashland, Alabama, Police Department; Several grants and nearly $300,000 later, officers are typing up reports on in-car computers, scanning fingerprints, and instantly checking for matches with other police departments around the state

  • Law enforcement officials adapting to the cell phone age

    Law enforcement officials are collecting more cell phone numbers for emergency alert phone lists as more people move away from land telephone lines; during emergencies land telephone lines are often knocked down and first responders do not have many cell phone numbers on file; emergency cell phone technology is rapidly improving with more accurate traces; 911 first responders hope to incorporate video, text, and photos in the future to better assess emergencies and communicate

  • Quick Heal introduces technology to track laptops

    New laptop tracking technology will help Indian police track and locate stolen laptops across the country; Quick Heal, the company offering the technology, also aims to create a centralized database of lost or stolen laptops; the database will be accessible to retailers and consumers

  • The sound of silenceNewly developed cloak hides underwater objects from sonar

    University of Illinois researchers develop an acoustic cloak, a technology that renders underwater objects invisible to sonar and other ultrasound waves; an advantage of the acoustic cloak is its ability to cover a broad range of sound wavelengths; the cloak offers acoustic invisibility to ultrasound waves from 40 to 80 KHz, although with modification could theoretically be tuned to cover tens of megahertz