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FBI in a $1 billion effort to build world's largest biometric database
FBI servers occupy an underground facility the size of two football fields; the organization’s database now contains 55 million digital prints; the plan is not only to increase this number, but also add palm patterns, iris patterns, face shapes, scars, and data on people’s voices and walking patterns
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Helmet sensors measure munition impact
Worried about ever-more-powerful IEDs, the Army is providing soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division with helmets equipped with sensors which measure the energy wave generated by an “event” and the acceleration or jolt that follows
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Accreditation program for labs which test body armor
In the last three decades, the lives of more than 3,000 officers were saved by body armor; many, though, lost their lives or were injured when they were wearing ineffective body armor; NIST, Justice create program for accrediting labs which test and certify body armor
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New siren for emergency vehicles shakes the ground
If the flashing blue lights, ear-piercing sirens, and blazing headlamps of a police car or an ambulance do not manage to attract your attention, then shaking the earth under your feet surely will
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Canberra cancelled robot IED detection system in 2004
Aussie soldiers in Afghanistan are just as exposed to IEDs as U.S. soldiers; in 2004 the Australian government canceled a project aimed to detect IEDs, and Australians want to know why
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Illegals in U.S. are not more likely to be involved in crime
Crime statistics do not support claims that illegal immigrants spread crime in the U.S.; percentage of incarcerated and charged illegal aliens reflects percentage in population
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Eye-catching new Taser sparks controversy
Taser International, not a stranger to controversy, unveils a new — and controversial — designer taser gun; some of the nation’s top police authorities are concerned that the gadgets could easily wind up in the wrong hands
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Company shows new non-lethal weapon
Intelligent Optical Systems unveils its LED Incapacitator, a non-lethal defense system for law enforcement and antiterrorism
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FCC puts 700 MHz item on 31 July
Since 9/11 there have been calls for making part of the 700 MHz spectrum a dedicated public-safety band; the FCC is inching toward a ruling on the issue
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UK considering restricting travel to Pakistan
UK mulling travel restrictions on suspicious terrorists, criminals to prevent them from going to Pakistan, other countries for terrorist training
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Decision on on 700 MHz nears
The need for emergency communication interoperability has prompted calls for using part of the 700 MHz band for public safety; industry heavyweights object, and the FCC is divided
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London bus drivers fight back against spitting rampage
DNA spit-kits will allow bus drivers to exact their revenge against teenage hoodlums; big opportunities in Singapore?
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Illinois issues gun permit to a 10-month old baby
Howard Ludwig is 10-month old (height: 2 feet, 3 inches; weight: 20 pounds), and he now has a permit to carry 12-gauge Beretta shotgun
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Debate over 700 MHz intensifies
Communication problems during 9/11 and Katrina have prompted calls for dedicating a portion of the 700 MHz spectrum for public-sfatey use; commercial interest have other ideas, and the FCC is caught in the middle
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TB victim receives TV
Facing a life of civil commitment, Russian-born Arizonan earns his creature comforts
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The long view
An Analysis by The Trace of 150 U.S. Cities Shows One of the Greatest Drops in Gun Violence — Ever
Gun violence is trending downward for more than three quarters of cities with the most shootings, according to a new analysis by The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub. The downward trend cuts across red and blue cities and states in every region of the country.
Trump’s National Guard Deployments Raise Worries About State Sovereignty
In two instances – Portland and Chicago – President Trump’s campaign to send the National Guard into Democratic-leaning cities he falsely describes as crime-ridden, has turned to out-of-state National Guard troops. Presidents who have federalized National Guard forces in the past, even against a governor’s will, have done so in response to a crisis in the troops’ home state. But the decision to send one state’s National Guard troops into a different state without the receiving governor’s consent is both extraordinary and unprecedented, experts on national security law.
Correctly Assessing Left-Wing Terrorism and Political Violence in the United States
A recent CSIS report, making sweeping claims about a supposed rise in leftwing terrorism in the United States, risks feeding false narratives about political violence and polarization. Michael Jensen and Amy Cooter write that the evidence used to sound this alarm consists of just five plots and attacks, and that these five events not only “are doing a lot of heavy lifting” in the report, but that they are given “an unwarranted level of causal and predictive power.” This tiny sample “simply does not justify inducing panic with eye-popping headlines.”