• Mobile emergency detection app for Android phones

    DefenCall smart phone app for Android users will be released in the second quarter; in the event of an emergency, users can tap on the app and it will automatically call, send text messages, e-mail any number of people that the user designates; the app will send the user’s name, contact information, and GPS location in addition to contacting first responders; DefenCall is currently being marketed to students on college campuses, those with chronic medical conditions, and travelers; the app costs roughly seventeen cents per day

  • Free radiation monitors handed out in South Carolina

    Ionizing radiation, the most energetic form, is capable of removing electrons from atoms and damaging the DNA within living cells; widespread panic caused by a dirty bomb, small nuclear device, or nuclear fallout would leave people questioning whether or not they were exposed to a lethal dose of ionizing radiation; the RadSticker is an inexpensive citizen’s dosimeter which could minimize panic in the event of a radiological incident

  • Colorado education dept. to fund emergency comm. systems

    Colorado will use a $41.5 million fund tied to the National School Lunch Act could be used to purchase emergency communications systems; the technology will improve communication between schools and first responders during an emergency

  • Oregon’s new budget may kill interoperability system

    The goal of the $600 million Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network (OWIN) project is to design and construct a reliable public safety radio system for emergency responders, comply with the FCC’s 2013 deadline to transition state radios, consolidate four existing independent state radio systems, and create a network that all public safety radio users in Oregon can access; the governor proposes to halt the project for lack of money

  • N.J. county to purchase mobile morgue with DHS grant

    Burlington County, New Jersey officials plan to use this year’s DHS grant of $775,000 to purchase surveillance for the county’s radio communications towers, license plate readers, and a mobile morgue unit capable of transporting eight bodies; the mobile morgue is used to provide morgue support in a mass fatality event

  • China's new water cannon is powered by a jet engine

    The Chinese city of Luoyang has paid $456,000 for a jet engine powered water cannon; the cannon, designed for fighting high-rise fires, is capable of spraying four tons of water per minute — fast enough to separate fires from their oxygen supply

  • Growing suicide trend poses risk to first responders

    In a growing trend, people in the United States are increasingly using dangerous chemicals to commit suicide; this trend puts first responders at risk by exposing them to deadly chemicals; in 2008 a Japanese girl released fumes that sickened ninety people in a chemical suicide attempt; responding to these suicide attempts is also costly as hazmat team materials are expensive to replace and removing contaminated vehicles requires hiring a private company

  • U.S. rules that Virginia Tech violated Clery Act during 16 April 2007 massacre

    Virginia Tech may be fined $55,000 and lose some federal student aid over the way it alerted — or failed to alert — students on campus of the unfolding massacre on 16 April 2007; a federal report notes that a continuing education center and the university’s veterinary college were locked down, an official directed that the doors to his office be locked, and campus trash pickup was suspended after word traveled of the shootings — and that all of these actions took place before e-mails were sent to students, faculty, and staff on campus

  • Police robot ends Wisconsin standoff

    Last Friday, a Northrop Grumman police robot was sent to investigate an SUV parked on the shoulder of a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, highway; the robot approached the two potentially dangerous suspects holed up in an SUV, transmitted instructions from a hostage negotiator sitting safely in a nearby truck, and punched out the rear window of the suspects’ stolen car, helping police end the standoff peacefully

  • Car 54 -- we know where you are

    In “Car 54 Where Are You,” the dispatcher of the 53rd Precinct in the Bronx always tried to locate officers Francis Muldoon and Gunter Toody; that was in the early 1960s; now, 47 years later, Chief Stan Bynum of the Ingleside, Texas, Police Department does not have to wonder where his patrol cars are; he just has to go to his new laptop to visually pinpoint every patrol car at the same time via GPS

  • DSU police helps in development of new law enforcement technology

    Delaware State University police is the primary tester of the Condor Crime Scene Management and Evidence Tracking System, developed by Fairfax, Virginia-based Advanced Response Concepts; a primary feature of the system is an electronic tablet that police can use to write their investigation and evidence collection information

  • Using a GPS database in law enforcement

    A GPS database can be used for a variety of different purposes and is an important part of law enforcement software; primarily, database-driven GPS devices are used for navigation and tracking in the civilian world; other data, however, can be included in devices designed for police officers, detectives, parole officers, and 911 operators

  • D.C. area wireless network excludes DHS

    U.S. federal law enforcement officers from different agencies soon will be able to talk to each other on their own radios in the Washington, D.C. area — but DHS will not be a part of the new system; DHS was lacking two things that are essential in the federal government for big projects like this one: “You need someone to be in charge and you need a place to put the money,” said the former official; “DHS had neither”

  • A first: Tiny chihuahua set to join Japan police

    Japan is an earthquake prone country; the police in the city of Nara, in western Japan, had an idea: train a tiny Chihuahua to become a search-and-rescue dog; the dog is set to become part of a search-and-rescue team used for disasters; its small size means it will be able to squeeze into places too narrow for dogs such as German Shepherds

  • Bandages changes color to indicate state of a wound

    Medical dressings are effective at protecting the site of an injury, but to examine a wound they must be removed; this can not only be painful for a patient, but it can also allow germs to enter the wound and cause infection; researchers developed dressing materials and plasters that do not need to be removed to check the state of a wound — they indicate pathological changes in the skin by changing from yellow to purple