06.06.2013
CCTV, crime, Information sharing, law enforcement, public safety, security, Technology
This was my second year attending LEIM and certainly the most enjoyable as the setting for this year was the beautiful Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Hotel. Coming from a country (Ireland) that has been deprived of good summers for the last few years, I was overwhelmed by the glorious sunshine.
As I walked around the beautiful grounds of the Fairmont Princess, enjoying the heat, I took in the perfectly manicured lawns, the towering cactus displays and the perfect little bunnies. This was just heaven and so far away from the cold, rainy Dublin I had left some days previous.
I’m glad to say as I write this from my kitchen in Dublin; the sun is streaming in the window, and is bringing back memories of Scottsdale!
I discarded my swimsuit and dressed more appropriately for the Opening Ceremony of LEIM 2013. Scott Edson, the past year’s Chair, opened LEIM with a warm welcome for everyone and a brief outline of the next few days events and sessions. He was joined by Alan G. Rodbell, Chief of Police, Scottsdale and Bart Johnson, Executive Director, IACP; they too gave a brief introduction and welcomed all.
After the opening I went along to my first plenary session of LEIM, The Evolving Role of Technology in Policing. This sessions also included results from the previous days Information Technology (IT) summit. Tom Casady spoke about technology changes over the years and how it changed law enforcement.
- The telephone was a big innovation from the 1930’s, and is still a critical tool today.
- Cars and motorcycles changed everything for the average policeman patrolling the street on foot.. Harley Davidson credits Detroit, Michigan as being the first purchaser of police motorcycles as early as 1908. The use of cars and motor cycles by police was widespread by the 1930’s.
- Two-way radio with the invention of the Motorola Police Cruiser Radio Receiver in 1936 again changed policing for the better. This was a rugged one-way car radio designed to receive police broadcasts. These have of course evolved into the Police Scanners we know today.
- In 1968 the first 911 call centre began where people could contact police on a simple but easy number to remember, in an emergency. This highly successful contact is still used to this day.
- The typewriter was used from the early 20th century and of course has evolved from the 1960’s, to the computers and laptops that are used today.
- Finally, in 1974, the stun gun was invented. It became an invaluable tool to subdue fleeing or potentially dangerous persons, and gives officers a less lethal alternative to firearms in many situations. As many lives as it has saved, it is still a subject of controversy, as it’s use has been implicated in some instances of serious injury or death. But having seen its use over the years, and in particular, the British police recently using this device to subdue the two terrorists responsible for the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich on May 22nd, I do agree with police being armed with them.
Of course technology has evolved from all this, to the brilliance of what we have today. From Cell phones, Laptops, Augmented Reality, Wearable Technology, i.e.: Cameras, Voice Recognition, Facial Recognition, Predictive Analytics, DNA Biometrics, Embedded GPS and to Social Media using Twitter and Facebook as a means of getting information from the public at the time and place of a crime or disaster.
There are a few articles and more information on this subject below:
Stay tuned for a couple more blog postings about the 2013 LEIM Conference.
Thanks…r/Mary
12.01.2013
congress, crime, justice, laws, public safety
Here’s a quick wrap up of Justice and Public Safety related bills passed by the 112th Congress…r/Chuck
- Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2012 authorizes grants to offset states’ costs for testing the DNA of arrestees. The new law does not require states to collect DNA from arrestees, and participation in the grant program would be voluntary.
- Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 bans the use of synthetic marijuana, known as “K-2” or “Spice,” and other synthetic drugs, such as bath salts. The bill adds the cannabimimetic agents and several hallucinogenic substances to Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. The law also extends the period for which the Attorney General may temporarily schedule a substance to two years with a one-year extension. Previously, a substance could only be put temporarily on the Schedule I list for one year with a six-month extension. The bill passed as an amendment to the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act.
- SAFE DOSES Act increases the federal penalties for the theft of drugs, medical devices and infant formula before the products reach store shelves. The goal is to target criminal organizations that steal sensitive goods for resale in the wholesale drug market. Under the new law, the maximum sentence is 20 years, or up to 30 years if the offense resulted in serious bodily injury or death.
- Residential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011changed the way about 10 percent of all presidential appointments are handled, thereby reducing the burden on the Senate and the time spent getting new appointees approved. Under the new law, the President will appoint, but the Senate will no longer need to confirm, the directors of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Bureau of Justice Statistics, (BJS), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
- Resolving a long-standing priority of the emergency management and law enforcement community, Congress passed a bill allocating to public safety the D Block section of the nation’s telecommunications spectrum. In addition to designating the D Block for public safety, the bill set aside $7 billion for the build out of a nationwide public safety broadband network and provides for the governance of the spectrum and for the preservation of the 700 MHz narrowband voice spectrum.
- Child Protection Act of 2012 increases the maximum penalties from 10 to 20 years for child pornography offenses that involve prepubescent children or children under the age of 12. The new law allows a federal court to issue a protective order if it determines that a child victim or witness is being harassed or intimidated and imposes criminal penalties for violation of a protective order. The Act also reauthorizes for five years the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces, a national network of investigators who have arrested more than 30,000 individuals involved in child exploitation since 1998.
- Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012 authorizes the Attorney General or Secretary of Homeland Security, at the request of a state or local government, to assist in the investigation of violent acts and shootings occurring at schools, colleges, universities, nonfederal office buildings, malls, and other public places, and in the investigation of mass killings and attempted mass killings. The new law defines “mass killings” as three or more killings in a single incident.