-
Detecting criminals coming back to the scene of the crime
Law enforcement officials believe that perpetrators of certain crimes, most notably arson, do come back to the scene of the crime to witness their handiwork; similarly, U.S. military in the Middle East feel that improvised explosive device (IED) bomb makers return to see the results of their work in order to evolve their designs; scientists have developed a method to identify these individuals
-
-
DHS developing "pre-crime" surveillance tech
Researchers at DHS are working to develop technology that could catch individuals before they commit a crime
-
-
U.S.: Iranian agents tried to kill Saudi ambassador to U.S.
The U.S. attorney general Eric Holde rannounced yesterday that the U.S. government has foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States; Iran wired $100,000 into a U.S. bank account in August as a down payment for the hit; the assassins — the Iranians thought they were members of a Mexican drug cartel — were to receive $1.5 million if the hit was successful
-
-
German police uses backdoor Trojan to monitor Skype calls
A backdoor Trojan capable of monitoring online activity and recording Skype calls has been detected — and is allegedly being used by the German police force
-
-
TraceSpan Communications shows new interception device
DOCSIS Phantom intercepts target communications directly from the line and collects a hundred percent of the information in both directions, to and from the ISP or communications provider; the device allows interception of all data, including peer-to-peer communication, even when it does not pass through the ISP server
-
-
Calif. Allows warrantless searches of cell phones
California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill which aimed to prohibit California police from conducting warrantless searches of the cell phones of people under arrest
-
-
Former colleagues: accused anthrax killer could not have done it
Two former colleagues of Bruce Ivins, a scientist who worked at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (USAMRIID) in Frederick, Maryland, and who was accused by the FBI of being behind the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, said he could not have done it (Ivins committed suicide in July 2008)
-
-
Innometrik, Lumidigm integrate technologies
Lumidigm says that Innometriks’ Rhino reader, which combines embedded Lumidigm fingerprint biometrics, smart cards, PKI, and digital signature technologies, is now handling high security applications in extreme weather and rough environments for several organizations of the U.S. Department of Defense
-
-
U.S. army orders 315 reconnaissance micro-robots
Recon Scout XT weighs 1.2lbs (540g), can be deployed in five seconds, and thrown up to 120 feet (36m); soldiers and law enforcement use the Recon Scout system to determine the layout of the enclosed spaces, identify potential IEDs, and the fix the location of friendly, indigenous, or enemy personnel
-
-
Mexico now dominated by two powerful cartels
Five years and more than 35,000 deaths into Mexico’s bloody drug war, two cartels have emerged as the dominant force in narcotics and the two are poised to slug it out in a dangerous battle for control; the Mexican governmen’s crackdown on the drug cartels has left many gangs splintered and operationally less effective without their leaders; in the ensuing power vacuum, the Zetas and Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel have stepped up as the two leading gangs
-
-
ShotSpotter, Intrado join acoustic surveillance, 9-1-1 service
ShotSpotter, Inc. and Intrado Inc. today announced the expansion of their partnership in delivering real-time acoustic surveillance and gunfire location alert and analysis services to public safety agencies. Intrado, a provider of 9-1-1 technology solutions, will host the ShotSpotter solution using its secure Intrado Co-location and Transport cloud service (I-CAT). ShotSpotter offers gunfire alert and analysis technology as a subscription-based service.
-
-
Sector Report for Tuesday, 4 October 2011: Law Enforcement Technology
This report contains the following stories.
Plus 1 additional story.
-
-
Graduate student develops emergency communication Twitter app
A graduate student at the University of Colorado has developed a smartphone app that makes it easier for first responders and emergency personnel to communicate via Twitter during disasters; without a standardized syntax, emergency personnel, affected individuals, information officers, and journalists were having trouble communicating on Twitter
-
-
Alabama explores shirt-cameras for police
With the increasing availability of cheap wearable cameras, more and more police officers could be recording their every move
-
-
Colorado slashes auto-theft rate with fusion center
In 2005 Colorado had one of the highest rates of vehicle theft in the country, but thanks to the dogged efforts of local law enforcement officials and the Auto Theft Intelligence Coordination Center the state is now below the national average
-
The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
“The Federal Government Is Gone”: Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States
As President Donald Trump guts the main federal office dedicated to preventing terrorism, states say they’re left to take the lead in spotlighting threats. Some state efforts are robust, others are fledgling, and yet other states are still formalizing strategies for addressing extremism. With the federal government largely retreating from focusing on extremist dangers, prevention advocates say the threat of violent extremism is likely to increase.
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”
Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled
“The United States has a strong policy on autonomy in weapon systems that simultaneously enables their development and deployment and ensures they could be used in an effective manner, meaning the systems work as intended, with the same minimal risk of accidents or errors that all weapon systems have,” Michael Horowitz writes.
Ukraine Drone Strikes on Russian Airbase Reveal Any Country Is Vulnerable to the Same Kind of Attack
Air defense systems are built on the assumption that threats come from above and from beyond national borders. But Ukraine’s coordinated drone strike on 1 June on five airbases deep inside Russian territory exposed what happens when states are attacked from below and from within. In low-level airspace, visibility drops, responsibility fragments, and detection tools lose their edge. Drones arrive unannounced, response times lag, coordination breaks.
Shots to the Dome—Why We Can’t Model US Missile Defense on Israel’s “Iron Dome”
Starting an arms race where the costs are stacked against you at a time when debt-to-GDP is approaching an all-time high seems reckless. All in all, the idea behind Golden Dome is still quite undercooked.