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Atlanta debuts new emergency communications systems
Last week first responders in Atlanta, Georgia gained a valuable new tool in helping to reduce 911 response times and improve communication during a disaster
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New technology helps Virginia Tech avoid another massacre
Last week Virginia Tech officials made all the right decisions after a man killed a campus police officer, showcasing the valuable lessons it had learned following the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre that left thirty-two people dead and twenty-five injured
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FBI opens new forensics lab for local law agencies in New Mexico
Thanks to a sophisticated new FBI forensics laboratory at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, local police now have access to cutting edge technology that can help streamline investigations
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Iridium offers emergency response service on satellite phone
Iridium offers free SOS service on its Iridium Extreme satellite phone; individuals who need emergency help can now maintain contact with an operator during the emergency rather than rely on one-way SOS alerting
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Local towns signing up for Twitter and Facebook for emergency comm.
Following the lead of several other cities and federal agencies, the town of Wilton, Connecticut recently launched a Facebook page and Twitter account to help communicate with residents and share information during a disaster
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FBI adds biometrics to national databases to improve accuracy
To help improve the speed and accuracy of its national criminal records database, the FBI is increasingly incorporating biometrics technology
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K-9 units outfitted with GPS collars
Thanks to new GPS collars, Michigan State police officers are now able to keep track of their canine partners and locate them or their handlers if they become lost or injured
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Dogs of war: the role of canines in the Second World War
A new book examines how dogs were used by the U.S. and Japanese militaries during the Second World War; the book goes beyond the battlefield duties of these four-legged soldiers and captures how dogs like New York City’s “Skippy” and Tokyo’s “Aren” mobilized their people to their nations’ causes
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British law enforcement exploits flaw in iTunes to spy
British law enforcement agencies and Apple are coming under sharp criticism after it was discovered that authorities exploited a security flaw in iTunes to spy on individuals
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Sector Report for Tuesday, 29 November 2011: Law Enforcement Technology
This report contains the following stories.
Plus 1 additional story.
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Digital DNA the new DNA
With the increasing ubiquity of computers, smart phones, and other electronic devices comes a torrent of “digital DNA,” which can be used to record an individual’s every move and even convict them of a crime
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LAPD to rely solely on computers to fight crime
In an unprecedented move, for the next three months the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) will rely entirely on computer software to decide where to deploy patrol officers; the predictive analytics software examines data from past crimes to determine when and where certain crimes are likely to occur next so police can be on hand to stop them before they are committed
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Irish police consider deploying drones
Police in northern Ireland are considering deploying small surveillance drones to help combat crime and the dissident republican threat as an alternative to helicopters; with police suffering budget shortages, many agencies cannot afford the roughly £7 million, or $11 million, a year it takes to maintain a helicopter
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Overcoming full disk encryption in digital investigations
The increasing use of full disk encryption (FDE) can significantly hamper forensic digital investigations, potentially preventing access to all digital evidence in a case
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Unused DHS fund help Pasadena upgrade helos
The city of Pasadena will use leftover funds from the 2008 Homeland Security Act to purchase a number of upgrades for its air operations unit; on 13 November the city council approved spending the remaining $650,000 of the original grant to purchase an array of high-tech devices, including an infrared camera, night-vision technology, and quiet technology tail rotor blades
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The long view
Data Privacy After Dobbs: Is Period Tracking Safe?
Many people think all health care information is protected under the federal privacy law, known as HIPAA. But menstrual cycle tracking apps, along with other health care technologies, like texting platforms that patients can use with doctors, are not. There haven’t been any cases where a menstrual tracking app’s data has been subpoenaed yet, but that’s probably due to the slow speed of which cases proceed through the court system.