• 2011: costliest ever year for earthquakes, weather-related disasters

    A sequence of devastating earthquakes and a large number of weather-related catastrophes made 2011 the costliest year ever in terms of natural catastrophe losses; at about $380 billion, global economic losses were nearly two-thirds higher than in 2005, the previous record year with losses of $ 220 billion

  • Taser International reports orders by law enforcement

    Quibbles about the use of taser guns notwithstanding, figures released by Taser International show that police departments around the United States continue to favor the company’s stun guns, and also other law enforcement gear the company offers

  • New portable chemical detector for military, first responders

    New, portable chemical detector for the military and emergency response can quickly and accurately confirm the presence and identity of chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals in gases, vapors, liquids, and solids

  • Cross-border security application integrates data from diverse sources

    An application unites data from local, regional, and federal public safety agencies in a common operating picture; the data is integrated with feeds available from Web sources (weather, road and air traffic, nautical conditions), and displays the data on an interactive map and timeline

  • Improving autonomous navigation in challenging conditions

    Researchers work on developing an advanced sensor fusion system for the Department of Defense that will increase high-speed obstacle detection range; results of this work should open up new possibilities for deploying autonomous vehicles for missions that demand navigating at higher speeds in unstructured environments

  • FedEx fined $370,000 for export violations

    Shipping giant FedEx has agreed to pay $370,000 in fines for violating anti-terrorism export measures

  • Facial biometrics meet gunshot detectors

    Two high tech companies have teamed up to create the world’s first system that can detect gunshots and identify the shooter’s face

  • Fingerprint Cards in record deal with China

    In a landmark deal, Fingerprint Cards recently received an order for nearly $6.5 million worth of the company’s products from Chinese banks

  • New biometric tools for Android

    Neurotechnology releases VeriFinger, VeriLook, and MegaMatcher biometric technologies for the Android platform; the new products contain the same algorithms as the PC-based versions of the three solutions

  • ETC launches new SmartModel technology

    The new SmartModel technology consists of a library of 3D objects and elements that can be inserted into a Master Scenario Events List (MSEL) exercise scenario; the SmartModel library currently contains various intelligent elements including vehicles, crowds, casualties, threats, and hazards

  • Carbon Motors faces uncertain future

    Carbon Motors, the makers of the specially designed E7 police car, are struggling to survive financially and could be forced to shutter its doors if a $300 million government loan is not approved

  • Open-source searches help solve cold cases

    Two detectives receive the LexisNexis One Step Closer award for effectively using searches of open or third-party information sources to solve cold cases

  • LA sheriff department upgrading its 1980-era terminals

    The Los Angeles Sheriff Department is upgrading its 1980s-era terminals, for which it had become difficult for the largest sheriff’s agency in the United States to find parts; the upgrade – Raytheon’s Mobile Digital Computer System (MDCS); the MDCS project and major technology upgrade represents the largest-ever deployment of mobile digital computers to a sheriff’s department in the country

  • U.K. industry calls for more ambitious waste management strategy

    The U.K. manufacturers’ organization EEF calls for the U.K. government to launch a more ambitious waste management strategy as resource shortages threaten; the EEF says that out of date legislation, limited access to waste facilities, and looming resource crunch requires more radical approach from government

  • Protests spur sonic blaster sales boom

    With the spate of protests from the Occupy Wall Street movement sweeping across the country, there has been a surge of interest in non-lethal crowd control systems; in particular U.S. police and first responders have taken a keen interest in Long-Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD)