• 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

  • Experts call for rules of the road for drone use in the Americas

    More and more Latin and Central American countries are using UAVs for domestic policing missions; these drones are employed as a high-tech answer by government to problems such as drug trafficking, gang violence, deforestation, and other illegal activities; experts say that Latin American countries should collaborate in developing a code of conduct that will prevent the arming of drones and assuage civilian concerns

  • New rifle sighting system dramatically improves accuracy

    Crosshairs automatically adjust for conditions in real time; a fiber-optic laser-based sensor system automatically corrects for even tiny barrel disruptions; the system, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL), precisely measures the deflection of the barrel relative to the sight and then electronically makes the necessary corrections; the new sensor is 250 times better than that of traditional crosshairs, which can be manually adjusted by one-fourth minutes of angle; the ORNL sensor can sense angular displacement and shift the reticle (crosshairs) by 1/1,000th of a minute of angle

  • Brazilian police get biometric "Robocop" glasses

    Facial-recognition glasses have been deployed by Brazilian police ahead of the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament; the system can scan and compare four hundred faces per second using 46,000 biometric points for comparison; the technology will be tested at public events leading up to the World Cup

  • Smugglers use portable ramp to jump border fence

    Drug smugglers along the U.S.-Mexico border are relying on increasingly more innovative ways to bypass additional security measures deployed along the southern border; law enforcement officials recently discovered a mobile folding ramp that allowed vehicles to drive over the border fence; the portable ramp was found in the Barry M. Goldwater Range east of Yuma, Arizona as Border Patrol agents chased a vehicle that had just used the ramp to leap over the fence with 1,000 pounds of marijuana

  • An electronic trail for every crime

    Police across the country are increasingly turning to electronic devices like cell phones and computer files to identify, prosecute, or exonerate criminals; the ubiquity of this technology has often provided investigators with an electronic trail that gives prosecutors concrete analytical evidence for nearly every crime; officials in Dubuque County, Iowa have established a digital forensic lab to analyze data on computers, cell phones, and video recorders to discover any encrypted files or other valuable information; in February law enforcement officials in Dubuque used text messages and surveillance camera footage to convict Teodoro Borrego of first degree murder

  • Technology helping police stop child pornography

    The advent of the Internet, file sharing technology, and social networking has allowed the market for child pornography to thrive, but now those very same technologies are helping police to crack down on individuals distributing child pornography; local police departments across the United States are using sophisticated software to track, identify, and convict individuals trading child porn; in Shawano County, Wisconsin investigators recently received new tools that have led to the arrest of five people on child porn charges in the last six months; investigators have been trained to spot individuals on file sharing sites; detectives have also been trained in computer forensics to recover data from confiscated hard drives

  • N.J. receives $5.7 million for seventeen police departments

    Earlier this month the Department of Justice awarded New Jersey $5.7 million in grants to help seventeen local police departments; the grants are specifically aimed at purchasing surveillance equipment like closed-circuit cameras, gunshot detection systems, and mobile data centers; each city will receive either $250,000 or $500,000 based on the city’s size and violent crime; surveillance technology has already proven effective in helping New Jersey police departments track down and convict criminals; New Jersey’s attorney general is encouraging police departments to consider regionalizing and consolidating functions as the grants can be used to purchase equipment to create regional dispatch systems