• New device allows users to scale walls, mountain faces

    A group of mechanical and aerospace engineering students, using engineering principles, basic math, and ingenuity, have designed a system which would enable special operations force personnel, first responders, and members of search and rescue teams to scale buildings or mountain faces under a variety of conditions

  • Lawmaker proposes restrictions on domestic drone use

    Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) on Tuesday introduced legislation into the Senate which he says aims to protect individual privacy against unwarranted governmental intrusion through the use of the unmanned aerial vehicles commonly known as drones

  • Day of wide-spread domestic drone use nears

    So far, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration( FAA) has issued 266 active testing permits for civilian-drone applications, but has yet to allow drones wide-scale access to U.S. airspace; law enforcement and industry officials say that it is only a matter of time before the FAA would allow the more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies and departments to begin to use drones for surveillance

  • Psychemedics receives additional FDA clearances for hair analysis drug testing

    Psychemedics developed a technology, using FDA-cleared radioimmunoassays (RIA), for the detection of drugs of abuse, and says it was the first laboratory to receive FDA clearances ten years ago for screening assays used in hair testing for drugs of abuse; the technology detects cocaine, opiates, PCP, methamphetamine, and marijuana using enzyme immunoassay (EIA) analysis of head and body hair

  • Manchester, New Hampshire police orders 250 X2 ECD

    Manchester, new Hampshire police department deploys 250 TASER X2 ECD, the largest such deployment in New England

  • California bill prohibiting use of license plate readers dies in state Senate

    Facing growing pressure from law enforcement agencies in the state, and a concerted effort by technology and insurance companies, the sponsors of a bill which would prohibit the use and storage of License Plate Recognition (LPR) data, decided not to bring the bill to a vote on the California Senate floor

  • 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