• Mantis shrimp could inspire new body, vehicle armor

    The unique and highly complex structure of fist-like club of mantis shrimp could transform materials used to create military body armor and vehicle and aircraft frames

  • Using mathematical modeling to predict burglary patterns

    Pattern formation in physical, biological, and sociological systems has been studied for many years; despite the fact that these subject areas are diverse, the mathematics that describes underlying patterns in these systems can be surprisingly similar; mathematical tools can be used to study such systems and predict their patterns

  • Movie-like emergency training system for law enforcement

    Raytheon’s VIRTSIM law-enforcement training system employs licensed motion-capture technology similar to that used in movies such as “Lord of the Rings,” “Avatar,” and, most recently, “The Avengers”; the system is being offered to the law enforcement community as an affordable, twenty-first century alternative to outdated training practices that do little to replicate real-life situations

  • NYC launches on-line auction of city fleet vehicles

    New York City operates 27,000 vehicles and equipment pieces covering sixty city agencies; each year, up to 2,500 of these vehicles are replaced by newer equipment and sold by auction to the general public; now customers can access hundreds of desirable vehicles with the convenience of an online auction

  • Atlantic City deploys ShotSpotter

    The Atlantic City, New Jersey, Police Department is deploying SST’s ShotSpotter Flexsolution to detect and locate gunfire incidents and gather gunfire intelligence

  • Surveillance and evidence capture tool comes to U.S.

    Evidence collection, location data, surveillance, and illumination all rolled into one handheld torch is making its U.S. debut at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) and Exposition, Tampa Convention Centre, Florida, from 22 to 24 May 2012

  • Panasonic shows wearable camera for law enforcement

    Toughbook mobile computer and Toughbook Arbitrator digital video interoperability offer advantages to law enforcement and public safety agencies; adopting body-worn video solutions is a complement to in-car platforms providing video directly from the officer’s vantage point

  • FAA moves on integrating drones into U.S. airspace

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now allows a government public safety agency and first responders to operate drones weighing 4.4 pounds or less in the U.S. air space, but under certain restrictions: these drones should be used for training and performance evaluation, they must be flown within the line of sight of the operator, less than 400 feet above the ground, during daylight conditions, inside Class G (uncontrolled) airspace, and more than five miles from any airport or other location with aviation activities; the FAA says that if safety agencies then apply for a waiver, the agency will allow the operation of drones weighing up to twenty-five pounds

  • Ohio University students develop 3-D maps to help first responders

    A group of Ohio University students has created a 3-D building mapping program to help first responders in safely responding to emergencies ranging from fires to terrorist attacks

  • High-tech license plate readers effective, but raise ethical issues

    The use of license-plate readers by police is growing, raising privacy concerns; cameras mounted atop the cruiser capture thousands of images a day; a computer inside the car checks the license plates against various crime databases, including wanted suspects, stolen vehicles, and sex offenders

  • FBI seeking wiretap-ready Web

    As communications have changed in recent years from the traditional telephone system to the Internet, the FBI has found itself facing greater difficulty in carrying out surveillance operations; the agency is asking Internet companies not to oppose a coming proposal which would require them to provide a surveillance backdoor

  • LMR market to reach $16.2 billion by 2017

    Next generation mobile/wireless technologies continue to suffer from coverage and reliability issues, which are key considerations for law enforcement, emergency medical services, disaster recovery, and other public safety applications; as a result, a large number of critical services continue to remain committed to narrowband analog connectivity such as a Land Mobile Radio network; this is good news for the future of the LMR market.

  • Stun guns increase chances of citizen injury, but protect police officers

    Across the United States, some 260,000 electronic control devices, or stun guns, are in use in 11,500 law enforcement agencies; the use of these stun guns by police significantly increases the chances of citizen injury, yet also protects the officers more than other restraint methods, according to the most comprehensive research to date into the safety of stun guns in a law enforcement setting

  • Reason-based behavioral recognition system wins award

    A reason-based behavioral recognition system for video surveillance developed by Houston, Texas-based BRS Labs wins an award at London’s Counter Terror Expo

  • Seattle police takes steps to quell drone concerns

    The Seattle Police Department recently acquired a small camera-equipped drone, but it remains unused while city policymakers work to calm privacy concerns