• Denying foreign aid to countries with outstanding NYC parking tickets

    New York City is home to 289 foreign missions and consulates, and their foreign diplomats have incurred more than $17.2 million in parking fines; these fines were issued due to safety violations, including the blocking of fire hydrants, which put the safety of NYC residents at risk; there is already a law on the books stating that 110 percent of the total unpaid parking fines owed to NYC and the District of Columbia are to be withheld from foreign aid and obligations to the countries at fault, but so far this law has not been enforced; three New York House representatives want to change that, telling other countries: pay your NYC parking tickets or forget about foreign aid

  • Quadrotor micro UAVs go mainstream

    A Canadian company develops small quadrotor micro UAVs for use by law enforcement, first responders, and the military; the company’s Scout has a range of three kilometers and maximum speed of 50 kilometers per hour; it can fly through wind gusts of up to 80 km/h, and can cope with harsh weather conditions; the Scout is light — it weighs about one kilogram — and can be carried disassembled in a case and be assembled quickly by snapping its rotors into the main body

  • ATF cracks down on bombs used to scare seals

    Much to the frustration of California fishermen, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) is starting to regulate the firecrackers used to scare away seals from fishing lines; beginning 1 May, ATF officials will begin enforcing a federal law that mandates anyone who purchases the seal “bombs” to obtain a special permit and clear a background check in order to prevent terrorists or criminals from using them; the bombs resemble M-80 firecrackers and are shot from a gun; fishermen and farmers use them to scare away animals like hungry birds or seals

  • Arizona police deploy iris scanners and facial biometrics to identify inmates

    Local police departments in Arizona have begun using facial biometrics and iris scanning technology to identify inmates and registered sex offenders; officers with the Pinal County Sheriff’s department have entered roughly 1,500 inmates and 700 sex offenders into a national database to better identify, register, and track inmates; the scans come as part of a broader effort led by the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) and the U.S. Justice Department; beginning in 2009, the Justice Department awarded $500,000 to help roughly forty-five law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to purchase iris scanners from BI2 Technologies

  • Surveillance cams removed from Muslim neighborhood in U.K.

    Local law enforcement officials in the United Kingdom have begun to uninstall more than 200 surveillance cameras from a predominately Muslim neighborhood in Birmingham; the installation of the cameras was met with fierce criticism, especially after residents had learned that some cameras were hidden; residents were particularly incensed because they were not consulted during the planning process; in October Chief Constable Chris Sims agreed to remove the cameras in order to regain the trust of the community

  • Growth of adolescent fingerprints can be predicted

    One difficulty law enforcement faces is recognizing whether the fingerprints taken during adolescence and in adulthood were those of the same individual; German researchers have developed a new procedure enabling the growth of fingerprints to be predicted

  • DHS struggles to detect billions in cash smuggled across U.S.-Mexico border

    Each year Mexican drug cartels smuggle billions of dollars of cash into and out of the United States, yet despite their best efforts, DHS officials are struggling to stem the flow of cash that is fueling the drug wars; the Department of Justice estimates that each year Mexican drug cartels smuggle as much as $39 billion in cash across the southern border; DHS officials say that it is having a difficult time detecting cash; officials are actively seeking to develop technological solutions to help detect individuals smuggling large amounts of cash across the border; but the technology to accomplish this goals may not exist yet as there are several large technical and logistical hurdles that must be overcome

  • Network-based tracking, an alternative to GPS

    With improvements in network-based tracking police and first responders now have a reliable alternative to GPS tracking when searching for suspects or responding to 9-1-1 emergencies; using signals from cell phone towers to triangulate a phone’s location, network-based tracking has steadily improved and in some regards surpassed GPS-tracking; unlike GPS-tracking, network-based solutions cannot be jammed by a user and law enforcement officers do not need to carry any additional equipment; with network-based tracking police can find an individual’s position within fifty meters using data from cell phone towers; despite improvements in network-based tracking, the system is not perfect and GPS still has many strengths

  • Taser's AXON wearable camera system provides police concrete evidence

    Police officers in several states are testing out wearable cameras to help increase transparency and provide clear evidence in officer conduct cases; Taser Corp. has developed the Axon Personal Camera System for police officers; the Axon system consists of a small camera, capable of recording at thirty frames per second, that is attached to an officer’s ear; initially developed in 2008, police departments are only beginning to adopt the technology to help minimize complaints over officer conduct; departments that have tested the system find it particularly helpful in providing concrete evidence

  • Deleted text messages hamper police

    The number of text messages grows exponentially; this year, people around the world will exchange five trillion messages; phone companies either no longer keep back up copies of text messages, or keep them for a very short period of time; police is worried that this policy will hobble future investigations

  • 247 on U.S. terror watch list bought guns, explosives in 2010

    There are eleven reasons why an individual may not be able to buy firearms or explosives in the United States — for example, being a convicted felon or an illegal immigrant; those on the U.S. terror watch list, however, are free to buy firearms and explosives; according to the FBI, in 2010 247 of them did — a similar number to that of 2009; some lawmakers want the attorney general to be able to prevent an individual on the watch list to buy a gun, but the counterargument is that the list is not always accurate, and that the attorney general is a political appointee; moreover, the list is secret, and letting people know they are on it may complicate the ability of law enforcement to track them and their associates

  • Car-based IED attacks an emerging threat in Mexico

    Intelligence analysts worry that Mexican drug cartels will increasingly turn to deadly car bombs in the escalating drug wars; drug cartels have already assassinated several government officials using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted in cars; in Mexico IEDs are easy to construct due to easy access to powerful commercial explosives that are widely used in the country’s mining and petroleum industry; due to strict gun laws, it is actually cheaper and easier to obtain explosives than guns; to defend against this emerging threat the U.S. consulate in Monterrey erected concrete barriers

  • From 2,700-year old mummy to today's infants

    A Vermont radiologist with a passion for archeology thought it would be a good idea to use a CT scan to find the cause of death of a 2,700-year old mummy in a Vermont museum; the Vermont medical examiner thought the same technique could be used to determine the cause of death of infants who die under suspicious circumstances, and other medical examiners across the country agree

  • Virtual Imaging: versatile detection at low radiation dosage

    Virtual Imaging, a Canon U.S.A. Company, is offering its RadPRO SecurPASS, a full body security screening system that detects and recognizes a range of objects and materials in about eight seconds per person; it uses transmission imaging with an exceptionally low dose of X-rays to scan for dangerous or illegal substances such as liquid explosives, drugs, copper wires, plastic, etc.; its applications range from civil security, that is, airports, seaports, railways, bus stations, to border security, prison security, and high level security as necessitated by nuclear power plants, military premises, and embassies

  • Indian explosives detection technology comes to U.S.

    A south Carolina-based company signs a memorandum of understanding with India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to enhance the DRDO-developed Explosives Detection Kit (EDK) so it meets standards that will allowed it to be used by the U.S. military and homeland security