• DigiSensory cameras predict crime before it happens

    With DigiSensory Technologies’ sophisticated cameras and sensor systems, law enforcement agencies and transportation departments across the United States are now able to proactively monitor and respond to crimes or accidents as they unfold; the company’s Avista sensors process the images that its 3.2 megapixel high-resolution camera records in real time and can automatically detect when a crime is occurring; when it senses something it will alert law enforcement officials instantly; the sensors can also assist transportation departments in analyzing traffic patterns in real time; the system could allow officials to change one way streets, design real time traffic signals, and multiple speed limits to make traffic flow more smoothly

  • U.S. works closely with Mexico to curb power of cartels

    The United States is already involved in the spiraling violence which threatens to make Mexico into a failed state: hundreds of thousands of U.S.-made firearms are bought at U.S. gun shows and then smuggled into Mexico to arm the cartels; but there is another aspect to U.S. involvement: more and more American agents are operating in Mexico to stem the flow off drugs into the United States and curb the power of the cartels; U.S. agents generally provide intelligence and training, while Mexicans do the hands-on work; neither side will say exactly how many agents are in Mexico, citing security concerns

  • Michigan law enables executives to privatize security

    Michigan’s new Emergency Manager law, in addition to allowing previously negotiated union contracts to be voided, gives appointees the authority to privatize police services and jails; some are worried that the rush to cut police labor costs will impair public safety; critics say that savings from privatization are illusory

  • Sophisticated new police interceptors unveiled to replace Crown Vic

    After serving police departments across the United States for nearly two decades, the Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser is finally set to be discontinued this year; police departments can look forward to several new models; Ford’s new car is at least 20 percent more fuel efficient than the previous model and offers higher performance; Chevy returns to the market with a powerful new interceptor that boasts a 355-horsepower 6.0-liter V8 engine; a small Indiana based firm will offer the E7 which comes with built-in license plate readers, infrared cameras, and biological threat detectors that will be able to determine the presence of biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear threats

  • New software matches sketches to mug shots

    Police will be given big help in trying to match to portraits of suspects drawn up by police sketch artist to mug shots in the police database; Michigan State University researchers developed a software program that “reads” facial details and matches them to mug shots in a central database; using techniques that describe lines and shading in small patches of sketches, the researchers were able to develop the algorithms for the software

  • Automatic license plate reader helps Jersey police fight crime

    The Evesham, New Jersey police department recently installed a high tech automatic license plate reader on one of its squad cars; the license plate reader, attached to the outside of a police car, relies on an infrared camera to photograph license plates and automatically runs it through several databases; the searches are designed to alert officers if the plates are linked to criminals, unregistered vehicles, or unpaid fines; in one month, Evesham police scanned 69,000 plates, returning 1,400 alerts of interest including several unregistered vehicles that led to large narcotics busts; officers see this technology as way to increase efficiency and do more with less given budget constraints

  • First response, law enforcement ground robot market to grow

    The current market for first responder and law enforcement ground robots is estimated at $203 million; just-published research says that the market is poised for a significant growth; first responder robots cost about $50,000 and up, which is the cost of a person for one year; the challenge for vendors is thus to find applications where the robot is used 24x7 365 days per year

  • Jails turning to full body scanners

    Cook County Jail in Chicago recently installed four full-body scanners to help improve security; officials say that the body scanners have enabled officers to better detect contraband items, hidden away in body cavities, and reduced the need for strip searches; the machines are located in the jail’s two maximum security areas as well as the initial processing area; officials say they plan to begin using body scanners at the Cook County courthouse to scan detainees before they enter the courtroom

  • U.S. UAVs track drug gangs in Mexico

    The war in Mexico — between the drug cartels and the government, and among the drug cartels themselves — has been increasingly spilling across the border into the United States; some cartels now maintain outposts in the Arizona desert; to gather more information about the cartels, and to help the Mexican authorities in their war against them, the United States has been flying unarmed surveillance UAVs over Mexico; the flights are made in coordination with and at the request of the Mexican government; the Mexican authorities also choose the target of drone surveillance; drones had gathered intelligence that led to the arrest in Mexico of several suspects in connection with the murder of a U.S. immigration agent, Jaime Zapata

  • NYPD's combat vessel will thwart Mumbai-like attacks

    To prevent a Mumbai-like attack in New York, the NYPD will be getting a high-speed combat vessel; the 71-foot craft, which can hit speeds of 40 knots and will be able to carry up to thirty police officers fully armed with heavy weapons; the high-speed boat will be outfitted with radiation detection equipment and infrared cameras, as well as a satellite communication facilities

  • Police departments relying more on volunteers

    As police departments across the country face shrinking budgets, many have turned to volunteers as a way to continue providing needed services; more and more departments have begun to rely on trained volunteers to complete a variety of tasks like collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, and investigating old cases; critics say that volunteers conducting investigations is a legal problem as they are not trained officers and could potentially jeopardize a trial, in addition to lacking accountability; supporters of the programs say that volunteers are screened, undergo thorough training, and are often supervised by officer

  • Verbal methods of deception detection more useful than nonverbal methods

    Trapping a liar is not always easy; lies are often embedded in truths and behavioral differences between liars and truth-tellers are usually very small; in addition, some people are just very good at lying; researchers suggest that verbal methods of deception detection are more useful than nonverbal methods commonly believed to be effective, and that there are psychological differences between liars and truth-tellers that can be exploited in the search for the truth

  • Florida's effective DNA database

    Police in Palm Bay, Florida, four years ago started a local DNA database as a quicker alternative to the state’s backlogged crime labs; the average wait to get results now is fifty-seven days, as opposed to the six- to 12-month turnaround from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement — which processes most state agencies’ samples; the kits used by Palm Bay also cost $100, compared to the $800 for DNA analysis charged by other state-approved labs

  • Detecting invisible threats to first responders, soldiers

    There are many methods currently being used that can detect chemical and biological agents and explosive compounds, but none allows for the unique fingerprinting of threat agents at trace levels; researchers have overcome this limitation with surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) using optically stimulated plasmon oscillations in nanostructured substrates; SERS offers several potential advantages over other spectroscopic techniques because of its measurement speed, high sensitivity, portability, and simple maneuverability

  • Using DNA to track down criminals and fight counterfeiting

    Applied DNA Sciences, based in Stony Brook, New York, works with banks, governments, and businesses across the globe to detect and prevent fraud in areas that range from textile fibers, casino chips, and cash; Applied DNA has worked with authorities in the United Kingdom to insert DNA markers in currency to help track down money stolen from bank heists and other robberies; the company has helped solve thirty-five cases; the company also embeds plant DNA in casino chips to fight fraud and counterfeiters by making unique markers that are impossible to duplicate; its technology can also be used in virtually anything to fight counterfeiters or authenticate products