Law & Order

Continuity of Operation When Disaster Strikes

HSPD-5 The purpose of the Homeland security Presidential Directive of Feb. 28, 2003 (HSPD-5) is "to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents by establishing a single, comprehensive national incident management system." Some of the objectives of a COOP plan are: to identify essential functions; reduce loss of life and minimize damages and losses; have in place the chain of command should the agency leadership be unavailable; reduce disruptions to operations; ensur...

The Rios System and Interoperability

Any laptop or desktop computer is instantaneously transformed into a fully operational dispatch center that even has the capability to enable an incident commander use his cell phone to speak directly to field personnel using radio or other forms of disparate communication devices. In order to facilitate underground radio communications in the subway system, the city of Philadelphia, PATCO (Port Authority Transit Corp.) and SEPTA also successfully patched the RIOS system to a city talk group...

Emergency Response Communications for Today

The panel included Mary Boyd, vice president of government and external affairs of Intrado; Karen Donahue, market development director, State and Local Government division of Alcatel-Lucent; Kevin Sumrell, product management at IPC Command Systems; Mike Dougherty, vice president of business development, Roam secure, and Mark Hall, public safety specialist for Frontier Radio Communications and communications unit leader for the Fairmount, CO Fire Department. Don't overlook such resources as l...

Interoperability Baseline Survey

Responses from the 3,430 participating law enforcement agencies helped provide a statistical snapshot of communications interoperability capacity for emergency response agencies across the nation. Depending on a law enforcement agency's technology approach, police officers may play a direct or indirect role in establishing and maintaining interoperable communications. By providing a clear picture of current interoperability capabilities, the Baseline Survey findings help equip law enforceme...

Florida Integrated Network for Data Exchange and Retrieval

A highly impressive and compatible software system, it has been endorsed and funded by the Florida Legislature, the National Institute of Justice, and the United States Congress. In another incident, stolen property that had been pawned in a Polk County pawn shop was retrieved by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, while investigators in Seminole County used FINDER to solve open cases involving pawn shops in Orange County.

Utah's Uintah Basin Agencies Prepare to Share Data, Information

SALT LAKE CITY-Seven public afety agencies in Utah's Uintah Basin area are preparing to share data and build interoperability using high-tech solutions from Spillman Technologies, a leading public safety software provider headquartered in Salt Lake City. Spillman Technologies provides a full range of software solutions for public safety agencies, including ComputerAided Dispatch, Records Management, Mobile Communications, Corrections Management, Fire / EMS Management, Resource Management, an...

Make Your Staff Meetings Count!

In 2004, the Hanover Park, IL Police Department, a department serving a village of 39,000 residents with 52 sworn officers and 35 civilian personnel, started a 12-hour shift rotation for the patrol division. The format included their response to an "Action Plan," problems or crime trends the shift was experiencing, outstanding performances, status of ongoing investigations or assignments and any other relevant informant the supervisor felt was important to address. Discussions at the staff ...

Who Says Cops Are Cheap?

Due to global security threats, the addition of special teams and other factors, buying habits of officers at uniform stores have radically changed. By stocking and merchandising impulse items, such as T-shirts, belts, tactical watches and other products, stores can offer customers greater convenience and pick up valuable incremental sales without adding floor space.

Police Equipment News

BlackHawk Armor LLC Mike Noell, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and founder of BlackHawk Product Group(TM), has set out to outfit the soldier and the law enforcement officer from head to foot.

Wireless 9-1-1 Recording

Should the need arise, Erie County investigators will be able to pull up the cellular voice recording of an incident and its associated GPS location data and retrace and reconstruct the exact sequence of events from the mobile 9-1-1 caller's own movements and words.

On The Job

Policing Strategy and Tactics

[...] the manpower shortages seem to work against the classic, citizen contactoriented Community Policing style. The activity of patrol officers running call to call is the exact opposite of the original, "spend quality time" premise of Community Policing.

News

Panasonic Pledges $1 Million to Le Museum

WASHINGTON, DC-When the National Law Enforcement Museum opens its doors in the nation's capital in 2011, visitors will be able to experience first-hand the day-to-day life of America's law enforcement officers, thanks to a $ 1 million pledge from Panasonic Computer Solutions Co., manufacturer of the Panasonic® Toughbook® mobile computers.

Penske Awarded Major Lasd Service Contract

Under the agreement, Penske will provide vehicle maintenance and body shop repair work for more than 4,600 units, which includes police cars, motorcycles, buses and other specialized equipment.

Second Chance Armor Marks 1,000 Saves

CENTRAL LAKE, MI-Second Chance Armor Inc., a leading manufacturer of concealable body armor for the law enforcement, government and security markets, announced it has reached an unprecedented milestone in the body armor industry-its bulletresistant vests have now saved the lives of 1,000 law enforcement professionals.

Open Channels

Lapd Wireless Video Surveillance

To curb crime in Los Angeles' notorious Jordan Downs public housing project-a flashpoint for both the 1965 and 1992 Watts riots-the Los Angeles Police Department has installed 10 outdoor, wireless video surveillance cameras. "Motorola's wireless broadband network allows our officers to have information when they need it most to manage an incident, to inform first responders as they arrive at a scene aware of what they will face, and to use video to size up an uncertain situation," said LAPD ...

Sergeant

Off-Duty and Back-Up Carry

Even though the Salt Lake City Police and their SWAT unit were quickly on the scene, had it not been for Ogden, UT Master Police Officer Ken Hammond out for dinner with his wife, many more would have died when a gunman went on a rampage in the mall. When it comes time to defending yourself and others, a .32 ACP Kel-Tec in the pocket certainly beats a ballpoint pen or a paper cup.

Training

Ileeta 2007: Trainers Training Trainers, Part 1

The International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA) conducts an annual conference that is narrowly focused to the law enforcement trainer, training supervisor and academy director. Vendors included large or well-know companies such as Armor Holdings, Clock, Meggitt Defense Systems (FATS / Caswell), IES Interactive Training, Aerko International, Ka-Bar Knives, Sigarms, Ruger, U.S. Armor, Guardian Protective Devices, Taser and the NRA Law Enforcement Activity Division.

Product Spotlight

Rapid Responder Saves Time

During these meetings, police, fire, EMS, and other first responders meet with facility managers to develop pre-plans for a wide variety of scenarios, from shootings and HazMat spills to natural disasters such as floods, fires, hurricanes, and earthquakes. The system is also set up to accommodate data sharing so that each participating agency can decide who can see their data, such as tactical response plans, and who can not.\n Rapid Responder is the only crisis management system recognized ...

Special Report

Steps to Shared Services

Municipal shared services programs include sharing police and fire dispatching; patrolling; criminal investigating; training; purchasing of equipment; vehicle maintenance; prisoner detention; drug and vice enforcement; specialized traffic investigations; police facilities; tactical teams; animal control; evidence technicians; records keeping and other areas of public safety. All general data from the feasibility study will be used along with a number of important dictums such as who the lead...

Up-Close

Tactical Headset Round-Up

"The COM-TAC II headset (and SWAT-TAC for law enforcement) incorporates 'talk through' technology; allowing the wearer the ability to hear ambient sounds such as people talking as well as tactical communications," said Timothy McNamara, Aearo Technologies' senior sales manager for military and LE sales. Atlantic Signal's Headset Atlantic Signal was founded by one of the original designers / developers of the world's first bone conduction tactical headset (originally sold by its manufacturer ...