Overcoming jurisdictions’ desire to implement technical solutions before thoroughly understanding the business needs represents one of the key challenges an agency faces in providing interoperability-related technical assistance. This article emphasizes the importance of identifying stakeholders and creating partnerships prior to investing in new technology so that all those involved have a say in (and agree to) how information should be shared. This process is critical to properly addressing interoperability issues.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today opened the application period for approximately $48.6 million under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Driver’s License Security Grant Program. These grants support state efforts to prevent terrorism and reduce fraud by improving the reliability and accuracy of identification documents that state governments issue. The FY 2009 Driver’s License Security Grant Program will accept proposals that improve state capabilities consistent with the requirements of the REAL ID final rule. This year’s program also will contain pre-determined target allocation funds to all 56 states and territories instead of the competitively awarded funds issued to states and territories under the FY 2008 REAL ID program funds. For more information, please visit www.dhs.gov.

An electronic, interlinked system that went online this year has revolutionized the way Kentucky law enforcement and criminal justice professionals access and serve warrants, summonses, and other related documents. Nearly a year after it was first implemented, more than 62 percent of the new warrants entered into the E-Warrants system have been served, compared with less than 10 percent served under the old system. The system, which first went live in Jefferson County, Kentucky, in January 2008, has since been launched in the following Kentucky counties: Campbell, Scott, Bourbon and Woodford. The program is expected to launch in Fayette County in early 2009 and be active statewide within the next 24 months.

Congratulations to Robert Boehmer, Director, Institute for Public Safety Partnerships, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Carl Wicklund, Executive Director, American Probation and Parole Association (APPA)! At the fall 2008 Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) Advisory Committee (GAC) meeting, Mr. Boehmer and Mr. Wicklund were reelected to the Chair and Vice Chair positions, respectively. Both gentlemen were the incumbents and will serve two more years in the leadership posts. The GAC serves as a Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) and advises the U.S. Attorney General on justice information sharing and integration initiatives.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), is soliciting applicants for the Tribal Courts Assistance Program grant. The program helps develop new courts, improves the operations of existing courts, and provides assistance with the enhancement of tribal justice systems. Applicants are limited to federally recognized tribal governments, including Alaska Native villages and corporations and authorized intertribal consortia. Intertribal consortia must have and retain written authorization from each member tribe prior to this solicitation's submission deadline and certify the same in the application. Tribes that received fiscal year (FY) 2006 or FY 2007 grants through this program ARE NOT ELIGIBLE to apply in FY 2008.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) has released a booklet highlighting key efforts supported by Global, including the vigilant preservation of privacy and civil liberties; fusion center partnerships; securing exchanged data and networks; and harnessing the power of the latest innovations so that new technology and standardized languages knock down barriers to information sharing. The Global Advisory Committee (GAC)—the preeminent voice of local, state, and tribal governments to the U.S. Attorney General (and other leaders) on information sharing matters—is uniquely poised to support many of the new Administration’s priorities with work already accomplished or currently under way. The GAC gathers twice a year; the next meeting will be held on April 23, 2009. For more information on Global, please visit www.it.ojp.gov/global.

With the help of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Rhode Island Department of Public Safety Director Colonel Brendan Doherty and E911 Associate Director Ray LaBelle have presented representatives of nearly 30 Rhode Island communities with new computer technology to help them more accurately plan for a variety of local emergencies. A type of software called "Pictometry" allows community leaders to access a digital library of images of a local landscape to see buildings, street lights, fire hydrants, and other landmarks from both high-level and low-level angles. This is extremely important imagery technology for first responder missions, geographic information system (GIS) mapping, and transportation and community planning. Associate Director of E911 Ray LaBelle said, “Every community in Rhode Island will benefit from the multiple interfaces this technology will provide to them.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Next Generation Identification (NGI) Repository for Individuals of Special Concern (RISC) rapid search functionality system will provide officers with important identifying fingerprint information. During a vehicle stop, an officer could take a minimum of two or a maximum of ten fingerprint images from an individual using a mobile device and submit it through a participating state's identification bureau to the FBI RISC. Law enforcement officers would then be able to quickly assess the potential threat level of an encountered individual. The FBI is currently prototyping this capability. Deployment of RISC will be dependent on capabilities of individual state and local agencies. For more information, visit the FBI Web site at www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/ngi.htm or call (304) 625-5590.

Through funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and in partnership with the National Governors Association (NGA) who provided critical policy guidance and facilitation, the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC) has been able to use the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) standards to define a set of standard data elements for exchange and develop NIEM 2.0-conformant Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) to transmit data for sharing with other states through the Consortium for the Exchange of Criminal Justice Technology (CONNECT). The purpose of this case study is to highlight the results and application of NIEM to the CONNECT initiative, an interstate criminal justice information sharing initiative led by ACJIC.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) has released a Request for Information (RFI) concerning the modernization, improvement, and operation of the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). This is a Request for Information only. The primary goal of NMVTIS is to assist in efforts to prevent introduction of stolen vehicles into interstate commerce by assisting state agencies in verifying vehicle title information, brands applied to vehicles, and vehicles reported as stolen or salvage/junk. Information in NMVTIS is available to states, law enforcement, individual and commercial consumers, and insurance carriers as well. Currently, 33 states are actively involved with NMVTIS, representing more than 75 percent of the U.S. vehicle population. The Department is interested in exploring a benefits-funded model for NMVTIS operation. The Department believes that NMVTIS provides significant potential revenue possibilities after implementation that can be used to sustain the system effectively in the future. Similar to other revenue generating efforts at the state and local level, NMVTIS is an ideal candidate for a system operator to work with the government to build a new solution at the operator's expense and then to realize financial return (repayment) on the back-end. For further details of the RFI, read the full text.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced improvements to the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) and introduced a new internet domain name, www.nsopw.gov. The new Web address will replace www.nsopr.gov. The updated version has a new look, is more user-friendly, and provides enhanced search capabilities to locate sex offenders. NSOPW is administered by the Office of Justice Programs' (OJP) Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART), DOJ.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), components of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), announce the Police Executive Fellowship Program. The Police Executive Fellowship Program (PEFP) is a program designed to provide a professional opportunity for local and state law enforcement officials to serve on rotational assignments at ATF and BJA. Fellows will assist with national law enforcement policy, operations, and training that will subsequently benefit local and/or state agencies. For additional information on PEFP, please contact ATF Training Specialist Jose Oquendo at (202) 648-8376 or via e-mail at Jose.L.Oquendo@udoj.gov.

Law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) maritime organizations might soon be able to share more information about seafaring scofflaws, thanks to a recent agreement between DoD and the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) data-sharing initiative (a partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice [DOJ] and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security [DHS]). DoD has adopted NIEM for reporting on maritime activities, according to a memorandum recently signed by NIEM Executive Director Donna Roy. Ms. Roy added that many law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction “over ports, inland waterways, bridges, and other connections to maritime environments.” By using a standardized vocabulary to encode data, local agencies, and federal maritime organizations could easily share information to help battle smuggling, terrorism, and other criminal activities.

The Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) Information Exchange (PMIX) project, a partnership effort of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the IJIS Institute, has been selected as an award winner in the 2008 National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (eC3) Excellence Awards. The PMP Information Exchange project helps states exchange dispensed controlled-substance prescription data through systems controlled by authorized state agencies that collect controlled substance dispensing data in a centralized state database. Designed to help detect and prevent the diversion and abuse of these substances, the programs involve the cooperative efforts of law enforcement, health providers, and communities in general.

The new e-learning course builds directly on the successful National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) Practical Implementer's Course and helps to address growing demand through innovative use of Web-based technology. It provides a free, open-enrollment educational environment to support flexibility and cost effectiveness to most efficiently address the needs of the NIEM user community. This release marks one step in the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) efforts to address financial cutbacks at all levels of government, helping to ensure that effective information sharing remains within reach. Any questions or concerns about how an agency can become involved should be directed to the NIEM training center at training@ijis.org or visit the course page for information on how to register online.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency today released Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Application Guidance for 14 federal grant programs, totaling more than $3 billion in available federal funding to assist state and local governments in strengthening community preparedness.  More than $27 billion has been provided since 2002 to strengthen our nation’s ability to prevent, protect, respond, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, or other emergencies.

In an ideal world, officials at different law enforcement and justice agencies and different levels of government would be able to seamlessly share information as they endeavor to prevent an imminent terrorist attack. In the real world, the push to improve information sharing in the years since 2001 has proved challenging. Information systems and people continue to have difficulty communicating, making the work of intelligence sharing and law enforcement even harder. To deal with this problem, the U.S. government has increasingly encouraged the use of information-exchange standards. By agreeing to use the same vocabulary and formats, agencies enhance their ability to share information with one another. The emphasis on standards is not new, particularly in the law enforcement community, but officials say the latest framework, called the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), has achieved more widespread adoption. Unlike its predecessors, NIEM extends beyond law enforcement into emergency response, international trade, and other arenas.

Whether investigating a terrorist plot against the United States originating overseas or combating gang-related violence on city streets, intelligence is the key to keeping Americans safe. These concepts were the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller’s main message as he spoke in San Diego at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) annual conference. Americans, according to Mueller, look to law enforcement to carry out multiple missions—“to dismantle gangs openly wreaking havoc on the streets while also detecting terrorist cells operating in secret . . . to investigate white collar crimes on Wall Street while also nabbing bank robbers on Main Street.” Mueller gave the following charge to law enforcement attendees “regardless of jurisdiction … the reality for the FBI and for each of your departments is that we must accomplish all of these missions.”

Bus riders and Metrorail subway passengers in Washington, DC, could soon have another option for reporting incidents to Metro Transit Police—text messaging. Train passengers often complain of being too intimidated by rowdy teenagers to report juvenile crimes via phone calls. Text messaging could provide a stealthier way to alert police. Passengers with either BlackBerrys or Verizon cell phones would be the first riders able to text message crime reports. Verizon is the only cell phone provider offering service underground in the nation's capital. BlackBerrys also work underground because they operate on a proprietary network. If the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) pursues the idea, staffers would do a trial run to explore how the process would work. This idea has been tested in other police agencies across the country, however the decision on whether or not WMATA makes the option available to passengers will depend on the findings of the employees-only pilot program.

New York has become the second state to begin issuing hybrid driver's licenses that also serve as official identification cards at U.S. border crossing points. New York's enhanced licenses, which have a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip, are being issued in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in anticipation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which goes into effect in June 2009. Washington state and British Columbia in Canada began offering hybrid driver's licenses in January. Officials in Arizona, Vermont, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec have said they intend to produce similar cards. The RFID tag on the New York license will transmit a reference number to readers that will record all crossings. To protect the cardholder's privacy, border patrol agents must match the reference number to an entry in a secure DHS database before obtaining personal information on the cardholder. [Related Article]

The deadline for federal agencies to issue personal identity verification cards to all their employees is only a few weeks away and once the initial requirements have been met and the deadline has passed, agencies could start to find other uses for the smart card, said Dave Wennergren, deputy chief information officer at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and vice chairman of the federal CIO Council. The smart card provides for a common process to assure identity authentication under Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12. Agencies are supposed to have distributed the cards by October 27, 2008, to federal employees and contractors with access to agency facilities, according to directions from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Agencies can let employees use the smart card for physical access when they move between agencies. The power of the card is that it has the information embedded in the technology on it that tells the facility guard that it is not a fraudulent card and that the person is a member of that community. The governmentwide card is a first step toward promoting trust and information sharing among agencies. The next step is finding more ways to use the HSPD-12 card.

Information technology solutions are likely to be the primary ingredient in nationwide efforts to let state and local authorities share police reports on activity judged to be suspicious and potentially linked to terrorism. Authorities say local police efforts to record and share activities that could be related to terrorism are critical to the government's counterterrorism effort. However, the specifics of how thousands of jurisdictions will record the reports and then share them through IT systems with federal counterterrorism officials remain open questions. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence's Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE) is leading the national Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) initiative. In January, the office released standards for SARs that are to be shared across the national Information Sharing Environment, or ISE-SARs. An initial privacy and civil liberties analysis for the PM-ISE led effort, released last month, provides detail of a yearlong evaluation project that will test various technologies and workflows for the ISE-SAR process at 12 sites nationwide. According to the study, authorities are not trying to create a single system for accessing or storing ISE-SARs. Instead, they are taking a federated approach, allowing jurisdictions to operate their chosen systems. However, those systems must comply with an enterprise architecture and use common data standards to manage user access to the different systems.

In summer 2007, Version 2.0 of the Extensible Markup Language crime-fighting superhero, the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), was released. Now, its creators are working to advance the information-sharing schema even further, with a beta of Version 2.1 that possibly will appear by year's end. NIEM 2.1 will include new vocabulary sets. It is branching out into other disciplines. For example, this version will be the first version to offer a vocabulary for juvenile justice concerns, which uses slightly different terms than adult cases. Biometrics is also a new entry. Although some basic biometrics terms, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, were entered in Version 2.0, Version 2.1 will expand the schema for widespread use. NIEM is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The NIEM initiative aims to develop cross domain information exchange standards for government agencies at all levels: local, state, and federal.

The purpose of this case study is to highlight the successful development of two National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) 2.0-conformant Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) and electronic data transmission involving the N-DEx subset of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) incident/offense and arrest data and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) data, through the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC). The challenge for the ACJIC was that the ACJIC intrastate UCR Local Template for Reporting and Analysis (ULTRA) was developed prior to the establishment of NIEM 2.0 as the national standard. Additionally, ACJIC's intrastate Secure Homeland Access and Reporting Environment (SHARE) must be complemented by the amount of SAR information that it collects and has been limited by the amount of information that gets entered by law enforcement and private sector security personnel. As a solution, the funds appropriated to ACJIC through the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) were used to ultimately develop two NIEM 2.0-conformant Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) and transmit data for sharing Alabama's Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data with other states through N-DEx and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) data generated by Alabama law enforcement agencies and private security personnel with fusion centers located in other states.

October 2008 marks the fifth annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) is once again actively engaging public and private sector partners through events and initiatives to increase overall awareness and minimize vulnerabilities. The more the public understands the nature of cyber threats, the more empowered they are to act. National Cyber Security Awareness Month is a campaign designed to educate all citizens and key public and private sector partners on cyber threats and how to safeguard themselves at home, work and school. NCSD leads the campaign in partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

While the number of identity theft cases reported to the Federal Trade Commission continue to climb, law enforcement officials struggle to solve cases left in the wake of criminals taking over identities and racking up mountains of debt, ruining credit and financially tarnishing good names. A new, three-year partnership between the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association (FBI-LEEDA), a non-profit corporation, and LifeLock aims to bring law enforcement together to educate and share information on identity theft trends. They will use this information to educate and empower consumers. LifeLock and FBI-LEEDA plan to host several free summits on identity theft throughout the next year. The October event will focus on a range of issues, including neighborhood identity theft, employer identity theft losses, relevant laws, awareness, protection strategies, high technology identity theft, and databases available to assist in investigations and more.

The purpose of this case study is to highlight the success of the development of a National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) 2.0-conformant Information Exchange Package Document (IEPD) for the New York Intra-State Criminal History Report (Rap Sheet) Project. The development of Extensbile Markup Language (XML) schemas using NIEM is a central element of New York State's strategy for the effective integration of criminal justice information systems. The New York State (NYS) Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is in the process of converting legacy systems, including the mainframe rap sheet. New York City (NYC) is the last agency dependent on the mainframe rap. As part of NYC Datashare's eArraignment process, NYC will be the pilot site. DCJS has developed the NIEM-conformant XML rap sheet to replace the mainframe rap sheet to NYC. The XML rap sheet will also be available to any other NYS criminal justice agency that wishes to participate in that exchange. The funds appropriated to DCJS through the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) have been used to develop a NIEM 2.0-conformant Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD) XML rap sheet used in the exchange of the New York Intra-State Criminal History Report (rap sheet). Results of this project include creation of a NIEM 2.0-conformant rap sheet IEPD, completion of all required IEPD artifacts, and publication to the U.S. Department of Justice IEPD Clearinghouse for use by other states.

Recently, the Pennsylvania Justice Network (JNET) merged its existing message management and approval document with its previous Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM) development methodology to create a single comprehensive National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) message development process. The Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC), Court Case Event Message (CCE) is the largest data exchange currently available in JNET with more than 300 components. The CCE is currently GJXDM-conformant, and JNET selected the CCE transactions to develop the first NIEM-conformant message using the JNET NIEM repeatable procedures. The funds appropriated to JNET through the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) were used to create a pilot conversion of the AOPC Court Case Event Message (CCE) from GJXDM to NIEM 2.0 using the newly drafted JNET NIEM message development process. Results of this project include the creation of a NIEM 2.0 Court Case Event (CCE)-conformant IEPD, completion of all required IEPD artifacts, and publication to the Pennsylvania Enterprise Repository (PEAR) and the U.S. Department of Justice IEPD Clearinghouse for use by other states. Results also include the development of a NIEM Adoption White Paper; a Performance Measurement Plan; and a Lessons-Learned Report.

New York has become the second state to begin issuing hybrid driver's licenses that also serve as official identification cards at U.S. border crossing points. New York's enhanced licenses, which have a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip, are being issued in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in anticipation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which goes into effect in June 2009. Washington state and British Columbia in Canada began offering hybrid driver's licenses in January. Officials in Arizona, Vermont, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec have said they intend to produce similar cards. The RFID tag on the New York license will transmit a reference number to readers that will record all crossings. To protect the cardholder's privacy, border patrol agents must match the reference number to an entry in a secure DHS database before obtaining personal information on the cardholder. [Related Article]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced a next-generation system built from the ground up by FBI investigators and technology experts. It is called ORION—the Operational Response and Investigative Online Network. ORION gives the FBI and its partners a real-time, online network to quickly and effectively coordinate efforts in crisis situations, no matter how many law enforcement personnel are involved, where they might be located, or how big the case. If an investigation expands from New York to Chicago to Miami, agents in every city could log into ORION and have instant access to every scrap of information on the case. ORION is a classified system for bureau use, but the FBI has also designed an unclassified version for its law enforcement partners, available through their secure Law Enforcement Online (LEO) network, so the FBI can exchange information on FBI cases virtually instantaneously. State and local agencies can access ORION capabilities for their own critical cases. For more information on ORION, see the full article or visit the FBI Web site.

The state of Texas was confronted with the challenge to coordinate the development and operation of justice systems that are maintained or managed by participating state and local justice entities, so that these systems are able to share information consistently and accurately in a manner that maximizes the services provided to justice information users in Texas. In its approach, Texas decided to update its five-year-old Texas Justice Information Exchange Strategic Plan and develop National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) 2.0-conformant Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) for 28 high-priority information exchanges. The NIEM standard provided the solution Texas was looking for and has facilitated the exchange of information between the participating state and local justice entities.

Senior government officials today discussed details of the George W. Bush administration's largely classified, multibillion-dollar national cybersecurity initiative, emphasizing the private sector's role in those efforts. Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the White House, and other agencies involved in the governmentwide effort to secure cyberspace told an industry group today about counterintelligence, supply chain security, and research and development portions of the plan. Disclosures thus far about the National Cyber Security Initiative have largely been limited to information regarding the government's effort to improve the security of the .gov network. Paul Schneider, DHS' deputy secretary, said the initiative has three focus areas: establishing the front lines of defense against cyberattacks and reducing current vulnerabilities, defending against a full spectrum of threats by using intelligence, and shaping the future through research and investment in new technologies.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded the New Jersey Institute (NJIT) $254,889 to continue developing childproof child-safe gun technology. The funding comes from a grant U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (Democrat-NJ) and Robert Menendez (Democrat-NJ) and U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (Democrat-NJ) earmarked in last year's annual Congressional appropriation bill. The gun currently tests with an accuracy of 95 percent with 32 electronic sensors embedded in the hand grip. Researchers have been evaluating the system using law enforcement professionals as test subjects to demonstrate that the technology works with a wide range of users, firing postures, under stressful conditions, and even while wearing gloves. The next step is to use the authentication signal from the biometrics to enable or disable the firing mechanism. While this was not part of the original NJIT research plan, it has been deemed a necessary step to secure private sector investment and commercialization of the technology. Since 2000, NJIT has spearheaded efforts to develop a personalized handgun that can recognize, instantly and reliably, one or more pre-programmed authorized users.

A new multilateral federation is combating cyberthreats and cyberterrorism, creating greater security in developing networks and stopping dangers before they spiral out of control. The International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Terrorism (IMPACT) has been launched to bring together the global community to prevent and counter cyberthreats. Membership in the organization is open to all countries, so developing nations can take advantage of existing expertise, and larger ones can help stop attacks. Certain corporations and research agencies also are invited to participate. IMPACT is modeled on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a government agency interacting with the private and academic sectors. IMPACT aims to offer network solutions and ideas not available currently. Members will assess security efforts already under way and who is involved with them to determine what needs to be accomplished to better protect the network. The organization aims to fill the gaps it finds in security and defenses.

Rapid Responder is a tool designed to coordinate response to emergency situations by providing crucial information to officers on the scene. Like many similar tools, Rapid Responder was developed in response to the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy in an effort to help first responders communicate better in similar situations. Information that can be compiled in the Rapid Responder system includes evacuation plans, floor plans, utility shutoffs, and photographs, giving first responders immediate access to critical information and enabling them to respond to crises quickly and efficiently. The software can be loaded on a laptop, made accessible via the Internet, or carried on CD-ROMs and flash drives. This means that on the road, even in a command post without Internet access, emergency responders can access the tool. This product appears on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office for Domestic Preparedness Authorized Equipment List, which can be accessed through https://www.safetyact.gov/. For more information on this project, contact NLECTC-West, (888) 548-1618 or Michael O'Shea, National Institute of Justice program manager, at michael.oshea@usdoj.gov or (202) 305-7954.

The New Jersey State Police (State Police) recently entered into a groundbreaking agreement with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that will facilitate the tracing of all guns in New Jersey that come into police possession through arrests, investigations, and found property. The partnership with ATF allows the State Police to use the ATF's eTrace system to identify trends and relationships between crimes and gun transactions by pooling all reported information to the ATF. Prior to the implementation of the eTrace system, New Jersey was able to trace approximately 3,600 of the estimated 30,000 guns per year believed to make their way through the state. After nearly four months of having the eTrace system implemented and functional, this new system has already traced 1,600 guns (that is 44 percent of the entire total of last year), and seven indictments have been made. After observing the initial success in the first few months of implementation, New Jersey plans to increase its efforts in tracing guns coming through the state and is anticipating even greater future returns as more local law enforcement agencies begin to comply with the new system. With even 50 percent compliance, the Regional Operations Intelligence Center (ROIC) would have access to data on 15,000 guns. However, the goal will always be 100 percent compliance with the program.

Using an award of $365,000 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 14 agencies in eastern North Carolina are now linked via an information network that will allow them to share information. Officials implemented the network, dubbed the Eastern Regional Information Center, to allow the agencies to collaborate on issues that may have ties to terrorism or to other criminal or security activity. The information center links police and sheriffs' departments in Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, and Pitt counties. Information shared with the center will then be disseminated to state agencies as well. Residents can send tips about suspicious criminal or terrorist information to webmaster@nceric.org.

SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, is pleased to announce the release of version 4.1 of JIEM, the Justice Information Exchange Model, on August 27, 2008. The Justice Information Exchange Model was developed by SEARCH through funding from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The new version includes several major enhancements that extend the capabilities of the tool. The most significant change is the addition of a new Information Dimension editor, which makes it easier for users to document data requirements and to integrate with the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM). Users can now identify services in alignment with the Global Justice Reference Architecture (JRA), and can capture performance measures and privacy requirements for exchanges. The new version also implements several usability enhancements suggested by the JIEM user community. All current JIEM 4.0 users can request the new version by e-mail at jiem@search.org. For more information about JIEM, please visit the JIEM Web site.

Virginia has allocated $23.4 million in State Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) funds to localities across the commonwealth. Funded projects include a statewide system that provides law enforcement agencies with secure access to regional crime data and counter-terrorism tools; improvements to the state's capabilities to respond to attacks made with improvised explosive devices, chemical or biological agents, and other means; statewide shelter planning and enhancement; critical asset tracking; a secure, online emergency care patient tracking system; and the purchase of systems that can be used to alert citizens in time of a disaster. Other funded projects will support interoperability improvement; expanding the Metropolitan Medical Response System; exercises and training; and planning and assessment. HSGP grants encourage regional cooperation to reduce the risks of improvised explosive devices and radiological, chemical, and biological weapons through interoperability, information sharing, and citizen preparedness. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) distributes HSGP funds according to terrorism risk factor, demonstrated need, and potential impact.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate has begun a pilot of an interoperable communications system with the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO). The Radio Over Wireless Broadband (ROW-B) project will demonstrate how to connect existing wireless radio systems with advanced broadband technologies, such as laptops and smart phones. In addition to traditional, handheld, or vehicle-mounted radios, emergency responders are increasingly using separate, wireless broadband systems to communicate. Wireless broadband services are often supplied by a commercial cellular service provider. Since the radio and broadband systems serve specified and very different needs, they were not originally designed to communicate with each other. This lack of interoperability between these two systems may compromise emergency response operations when responders using a broadband system are unable to communicate with responders using a radio system. Resolving this disparity is one of the main reasons the ROW-B project is so important.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has long had a reputation for providing top-notch education on the most pressing law enforcement topics. That is why more than 15,000 law enforcement professionals will be attending the 115th Annual IACP Conference and Exposition in San Diego, California, from November 8-12, 2008. The annual conference offers renowned keynote speakers, forums and technical workshops, and the largest exhibit hall of products and services for the law enforcement community. Each year, over 100 educational sessions are offered to attendees of the IACP's Annual Conference and Exposition. Law enforcement executives present on current issues and trends while sharing lessons learned. Topics from past conferences include, but are not limited to, strategies for leading change in police culture, less than lethal issues, online learning and operational support, public law enforcement and private security collaboration, violent crime, use of force issues, training, and case studies.

Enhanced 911 systems would accommodate calls from Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled phones under rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Electronic 911 (e-911) calls are routed to about 6,000 call centers nationwide (known as public safety answering points) using various technical protocols to identify the caller's location and the appropriate answering point to handle the call. FCC published a notice of proposed rulemaking on August 25, 2008 with the goal of ensuring that voice-over-IP (VOIP) service providers have access to the capabilities they need to provide 911 and e-911 services. FCC officials say the proposed rule is part of their effort to comply with provisions of the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008, which became law on July 23, 2008.

It is conventional wisdom that the first critical component of an emergency operations center (EOC) is the competency of the individuals who staff it—their ability to respond authoritatively to any possible disaster and their capacity to think outside the box when confronting the unexpected. The second critical aspect of the EOC is its communications system. This needs to facilitate the inflow of information to ensure timely situational awareness and allow strategic and tactical orders to reach the right people without delays. One long-standing barrier to this has been interoperability issues. In part, that has been a technical problem. But interoperability also implies effective coordination and that does not always happen naturally in a stovepipe environment where agencies have separate command lines and cultures. In the law enforcement and intelligence arena, the push has been to get various agencies effectively sharing information and working in tighter coordination—something they did not always do before September 11, 2001. This led to the creation of what the law enforcement community calls the ‘‘fusion center.’’ Though most think of homeland security intelligence functions when they think of the fusion center, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland (DHS), the concept has always included an all-hazards approach. DHS also noted that some past natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, did not have the benefit of working fusion centers. However, fusion centers are beginning to mature, and emergency managers will benefit from their existence. As a conduit to share information and intelligence, fusion centers would be used in the event of a future natural disaster. Though most fusion centers concentrate on law enforcement and homeland security matters, their operations can provide lessons for EOC managers.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) to address gaps and determine solutions so that emergency response personnel at all levels of government and across all disciplines can communicate as needed, on demand, and as authorized. The NECP is the nation's first strategic plan to improve emergency response communications and complements overarching homeland security and emergency communications legislation, strategies, and initiatives. The NECP enhances governance, planning, technology, training and exercises, and disaster communications capabilities with recommendations and milestones for emergency responders and relevant government officials. It is designed to drive measurable and sustainable improvements over the next five years consistent with the National Response Framework; National Incident Management System; National Preparedness Guidelines; and Target Capabilities List. NECP goals, along with these other department strategies, will improve nationwide response efforts and bolster situational awareness, information sharing, and command and control operations. The Department's Office of Emergency Communications developed the NECP in cooperation with more than 150 public and private sector emergency communications officials. The Department's new Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program will further enable states to align their plans with the NECP.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Safety Commissioner Dave Mitchell announced that the state will receive $20.6 million in Homeland Security Grant funding. More than $15.4 million of the grant funds will be passed through to Tennessee's 11 Homeland Security District Councils to fund homeland security projects within the cities and counties that comprise the district. This year's funding level represents an increase of $550,000 over 2007. The grants will primarily be used to support Tennessee's top homeland security priorities—improving interoperable communications, enhancing information sharing, and protecting critical infrastructure. Tennessee's Homeland Security Districts will soon receive authorization to plan projects and programs to utilize the funding, which comes from five separate federal grants, including a $12.9 million State Homeland Security Grant from the core homeland security assistance program; a $4.4 million Urban Area Security Initiative Grant; a $1.8 million Urban Area Security Initiative Grant; a $287,000 Citizen Corps Grant; and a $1.28 million Metropolitan Medical Response System Grant.

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) has released ''Studies Seven Signs of Terrorism,'' a DVD aimed at educating the public on suspicious activity. The ISS is a research and outreach department of the university run on an infrastructure grant designed by Senator Harry Reid, given for the purpose of security training, research, and outreach, both within the university and throughout the state of Nevada. Because the information is universal, other states such as Florida and Hawaii have expressed interest in the DVD, both for its pertinent subject matter and because these places have strong tourism industries. The DVD was released well after the terrorism attacks of September 11, 2001, for the purpose of endorsing the new counterterrorism (fusion) centers, 50 of which are operational across the country with 20 more in the works. The DVD does, in fact, urge the viewers not to discriminate against race when it comes to potential terrorists. The DVD is free of charge and the ISS urges anyone who is interested to e-mail Sharon Savage at sharon.savage@unlv.edu or call Ross Bryant at (702) 939-4644.

The National Integrated Interagency Information (N-III) system, a groundbreaking information sharing initiative for police, public safety, and federal agencies across Canada, will be a topic of discussion at the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) annual conference in Montreal on August 24, 2008. Headed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), N-III will initially provide two tools: the Police Information Portal (PIP) for law enforcement agencies and the Integrated Query Tool (IQT) for federal government departments and public safety agencies. IQT will allow access to police information through a governance-based access control (GBAC) filter, which aims to ensure that various information sharing laws are respected and that agencies can only access data to which they are legally entitled. The project began approximetely four years ago and is scheduled for implementation in the spring of 2009. Currently, 172 of the 192 police agencies across Canada will participate. The remaining 20 are expected to join after resolving technology-related issues. As many as eight federal agencies may also be involved.

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) has migrated its interstate criminal history transmission to the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) putting Pennsylvania on the map as the first state in the nation to successfully execute the NIEM standard for information sharing. Pennsylvania is one of eight states supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, to implement a standardized criminal history transmission format using eXtensible Markup Language (XML). This project has been a cooperative effort between the state police and Nlets, The International Justice and Public Safety Network (Nlets). ‘‘I'm very pleased that Pennsylvania State Police personnel, working with our contractor and Nlets, were able to complete this critical project so quickly. It is also very gratifying to be the first state to implement the use of the NIEM standard which will eventually provide the common format for information sharing across our nation,’’ said Major Huascar Rivera, Director of the PSP Bureau of Communications and Information Services. NIEM is a product of a partnership of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is designed to support enterprise-wide information exchange standards and processes that can enable jurisdictions to effectively share critical information in emergency situations, as well as support the day-to-day operations of agencies throughout the United States. NIEM builds on the Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM), which was developed by justice agencies, including law enforcement, prosecution, and courts.

Following the 9-11 Commission’s challenge to improve information sharing, a key group of chief information officers is, in its own way, pushing the boundaries of consensus building and galvanizing the federal information technology community. A collaboration of four of the biggest federal departments will release Universal Core (UCore) 2.0, an impressive achievement in its scope, impact, and design. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the intelligence community developed UCore. The UCore design excels in three areas—simplicity, context, and packaging. The standard has a conceptual model that clearly and intuitively provides a logical basis for describing the concepts of who, what, where, and when. For example, ''who'' is characterized as a type of agent, ''which'' could be a person, organization, or group. The other concepts are also on a solid logical footing. By standardizing those root concepts across IT systems, you essentially create search threads throughout your information holdings. Think about the power of being able to traverse all the information in your organization by time, geography, individual, and key subjects. And combining those powerful search axes opens up endless productivity enhancements. For context, the UCore standard defines a metadata element and some taxonomies and relationships. The taxonomies and metadata element perfectly implement the concepts in the Federal Enterprise Architecture Data Reference Model. The standard relationships move UCore beyond the model into the realm of advanced semantic technologies.

While a security breach is a frightening threat for public Chief Information Officers (CIOs), governments constantly lack enough funding for information technology (IT) security. Security is one of the most frequently misunderstood management functions. As a result, it is generally not funded adequately to fully protect an organization's critical information. Outlined in this article, which is an excerpt from an upcoming feature in Public CIO magazine, (the full version will appear this fall), are a few key steps CIOs should take to ensure IT security receives the attention and budget it deserves, such as: Increasing Appreciation of Security's Significance; Quantifing the Real Cost of a Security Breach; (IT Management) Appreciating the Importance of Security; Making All Employees Aware of Security; and Understanding the Best Practices for Technology Adoption. Proactive cyber security can ultimately save agencies money, labor, and time. However, these facts are not routinely understood by everyone in the public sector. CIOs must improve appreciation, awareness, and adoption in order to make any headway during budget negotiations. Public sector organizations are encouraged to change how they think about security in order to keep data secure and protect citizens.

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire announced that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has named the Washington State Patrol (WSP) the best law enforcement agency in the nation for 2007. The honor follows last year's designation of WSP as the best state police agency of its size. ''Last year WSP won its category. This year the agency moved up to be named the role model for all public safety agencies,'' Gregoire said. ''Each of our families is safer because of the lifesaving work done by these men and women.'' The award, called the ''Law Enforcement Challenge,'' recognizes excellence in reducing deaths and injuries on the nation's highways. Judges look closely at traffic enforcement, public education, and occupant protection. Award rules require agencies that win their category to move up to a championship class the following year. The WSP was one of 23 prior category winners competing in the 2007 Championship Class and came out on top. ''This is an exceptional honor,'' said WSP Chief John R. Batiste. ''It belongs to the men and women of WSP who are committed to reducing deaths and injuries on Washington highways.'' Ron Ruecker, president of IACP, noted the exceptional policing by WSP stating, ''The Washington State Patrol has always been committed to traffic safety, and the numbers show they're being effective.'' IACP was founded in 1893 and among its goals are advancing the art and science of police services and fostering cooperation among police administrators throughout the world.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the final guidelines for Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The Guidelines provide necessary tools for states, the District of Columbia, territories, and certain federally recognized Indian tribes to incorporate SORNA minimum requirements into their sex offender registration and notification programs. ''The Department is pleased to provide guidance to states and other covered jurisdictions in complying with the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act,'' said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Sedgwick of the Office of Justice Programs. ''These Guidelines will provide valuable implementation strategies to enhance their abilities to respond to crimes against children and adults and prevent sex offenders who have been released back into the community from victimizing others.'' The final guidelines provide direction and assistance to all jurisdictions in their efforts to meet the minimum standards of the Adam Walsh Act. The final guidelines and additional information on significant changes can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/smart.

Since the tightening of security at the nation's airports following 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) doubled the suggested time passengers should allow to get from curbside to jet way. On top of that, the TSA imposed restrictions on a laundry list of seemingly harmless items which passengers could not carry onboard airplanes. Who has not had some small item taken away from them at security, which they may not have minded, but who were annoyed just the same? But wait. Passengers may get a reprieve. After the tightening of restrictions on items allowed through security checkpoints, the TSA has made two small concessions travelers may welcome: Some laptops will be allowed to travel through security in their cases and passengers may be allowed to keep their shoes on. The TSA screens laptops to see if the electronics inside have been tampered with. Screening personnel are trained to detect irregularities in the insides of a computer. That is why they need an unobstructed view as the laptop moves through the X-ray machine. Currently, passengers are asked to remove laptops from their cases in order to give screeners a clear view. Some problem solving by the TSA and luggage vendors may make that less necessary. As for that other nuisance—having to take one's shoes off at the checkpoint—screening personnel are testing new shoe-scanning technology that allows a passenger to walk fully shod through a security checkpoint. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology division is also testing shoe scanners and will collaborate with TSA on the results. TSA will use these units to conduct the testing and will continue to examine new technologies, such as the shoe scanner, that can improve security and reduce hassle for travelers.

Across the United States, detecting and preventing terrorism has become a law enforcement priority. Pursuing terrorists and gathering intelligence data to thwart further terrorist attacks requires that agencies allocate scarce resources. By working alone and relying on individual budgets, agencies limit their ability to detect and prevent terrorism successfully. In addition, few municipal law enforcement agencies can afford to dedicate units to study and track terrorist and other organized criminal activities. Along with financial concerns, ''routine'' law enforcement caseloads normally take precedence for many municipal agencies. Yet, the importance of intelligence and the exchange of information among agencies cannot be dismissed. Proactive intelligence efforts are the key to inhibiting criminal networks—whether those networks are related to terrorism, drugs, or other organized criminal enterprises. For this reason, any information sharing solution must employ an all-crimes approach. This article offers solutions to the problems involved with implementing the exchange of criminal intelligence, gives an example of New York's fusion center operations, and speaks to the overall success of fusion centers across the nation.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) wants state criminal intelligence data systems to specifically include more intelligence about terrorism. According to a proposed rule, state and local organizations should gather and include terrorism-related information in their federally funded criminal intelligence data systems. The rule also would extend the length of time that the systems contain information without review from five to ten years. Justice said the change is necessary because new data analysis technologies might reveal useful intelligence from the data later. Criminal intelligence systems store and share investigative data about individuals or organizations that authorities reasonably suspect participate in criminal activity. The systems are different from the criminal record databases that law enforcement authorities also maintain. The proposed amendments would define terrorism and its material support as criminal activities about which state and local law enforcement should gather and maintain intelligence. In addition, they would establish standards for how information can be used for prevention purposes, something that the regulations do not currently mention.

The Intergovernmental Advisory Board will host a Webinar on Thursday, August 14, at 2:00 P.M. EDT. The topic of the Webinar will be Justice Reference Architecture (JRA). JRA offers a service-oriented architecture (SOA) solution that enables interoperable data sharing services, guides implementation, and facilitates collaboration among disparate communities. The goal of the JRA is to enable efficiency and agility, avoid incompatibility of system architectures, and guide the private sector in developing adaptive products by establishing a framework based on consensus national standards. The Webinar will focus on the Advisory Board's collaborative effort with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global). This meeting will feature a presentation by Thomas M. Clarke, Vice President of Research and Technology for the National Center for State Courts and Chair of the Global Infrastructure and Standards Working Group. For more information on this Webinar, please contact Adam Mercer via e-mail at adam.mercer@ojp.usdoj.gov or phone (202) 616-9006.

Eleven perpetrators allegedly involved in the hacking of nine major U.S. retailers and the theft and sale of more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers have been charged with numerous crimes, including conspiracy, computer intrusion, fraud, and identity theft. The scheme is believed to constitute the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The Boston, Massachusetts, indictment alleges that during the course of the sophisticated conspiracy, hackers obtained the credit and debit card numbers by ''wardriving'' and hacking into the wireless computer networks of major retailers. Wardriving involves locating wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks from a moving vehicle with a laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA). Once inside the networks, they installed ''sniffer'' programs that would capture card numbers, as well as password and account information, as they moved through the retailers’ credit and debit processing networks. The DOJ indictment alleges the hackers sold some of the credit and debit card numbers over the Internet to other criminals in the United States and Eastern Europe. The stolen numbers were ''cashed out'' by encoding card numbers on the magnetic strips of blank cards. The thieves then used these cards to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars at a time from automated teller machines (ATMs). ''So far as we know, this is the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country,'' Attorney General Michael Mukasey said at a Boston news conference. ''It highlights the efforts of the Justice Department to fight this pernicious crime and shows that, with the cooperation of our law enforcement partners around the world, we can identify, charge, and apprehend even the most sophisticated international computer hackers.'' [Related Article]

Nlets, the International Justice and Public Safety Network, considers communication their main priority. As such, Nlets is offering their Fifth Annual Implementers Conference. The conference provides attendees the opportunity to exchange ideas, learn about new technologies and national standards initiatives, share implementation successes and failures, and create new contacts. The intent of this conference is to facilitate all aspects of justice information sharing, the delivery of justice, public safety and incident management, and the securing of our homeland. Among the 150 participants who normally attend the conference are developers and technical managers who are implementers of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) and the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM), Web services, and other interrelated technologies. Conference agenda topics may cover but will not be limited to industry data models, a variety of industry-specific initiatives and issues, as well as Nlets grants, products, and services. The conference will have a developer track and a technical manager track. For more information on the Nlets Fifth Annual Implementers Conference, please visit the conference Web site.

When Vermont's emergency response community switched to a new Internet protocol (IP)-based 911 telecommunications system in two data centers in February 2007, it put the state on the leading edge of the nationwide transition to next-generation 911 (NG 911) call centers. Across the country, regional and state officials are working on standards and funding mechanisms to shift from legacy systems to IP-based networks—gaining the flexibility to handle emergencies and bringing the country's 6,500 call centers into the 21st century. In essence, 911 centers are working to catch up with the profusion of consumer devices that send and receive text, data, and digital images. In a few years, most call centers should be able to exchange and disseminate text messages to the public alerting them of emergencies, as well as stream videos of bank robberies and transfer those images to police squad cars. For example, when a tanker truck flips over on the highway, a passerby will be able to take a photo with his or her cell phone and send a picture to 911 of the truck's hazardous material symbols.

The U.S. House of Representatives (House) has passed a measure that would eliminate some restrictions on how state and local authorities can use grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to support their intelligence fusion centers. Meanwhile, some lawmakers have expressed concern that the current restrictions could force the centers to scale back their operations—or end them. The Personnel Reimbursement for Intelligence Cooperation and Enhancement of Homeland Security Act, passed by the House unanimously July 29, 2008 by a voice vote, would amend some restrictions on federal financial assistance provided to state and local governments for information sharing activities, such as the fusion centers. The legislation would allow state and local authorities to use up to 50 percent of grant money awarded for any fiscal year to pay for personnel and operational costs, including overtime costs. It would also allow authorities to pay for analysts at the centers regardless of whether they are new hires or have been working at the centers without any time limitations. No companion legislation is pending in the U.S. Senate. The House bill has received the support of the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), the National Governors Association (NGA), and the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA).

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed eight homeland security measures that, among other measures, are designed to strengthen cybersecurity, promote greater sharing of unclassified information, and prevent the over-classification of information. Representative Bennie G. Thompson (Democrat-Mississippi), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, praised the measures saying, ''Passage of these vital measures improves the nation's information sharing capacity, increases privacy protections at the department and further strengthens both our cyber and port security.'' Included among the eight measures that passed were the Homeland Security Open Source Information Enhancement Act of 2008; Improving Public Access to Documents Act of 2008; Personnel Reimbursement for Intelligence Cooperation and Enhancement of Homeland Security Act; and the Department of Homeland Security Component Privacy Officer Act of 2008. For a summary of all eight measures, please see the full article.

For police officers in Ulster County, New York, training on a firearms training simulator (FATS) is a major step up from pelting one another with paintballs and wax balls. To an observer, FATS might look like a giant video game. A trainee shoots a realistic-looking gun at a 15-foot by 8-foot screen, which projects a re-enactment of a potentially hazardous scenario, such as a knife-wielding man. FATS is not only a great tool to teach cops how to handle a crisis situation—it is also a good way to educate the public about the split-second decisions required of law enforcement. Ulster County police use the newly purchased simulator to teach cops and citizens the landmines involved in police work. Ulster County opened a citizens' police academy in May and will use the simulator to show the public just what kind of mayhem officers might face and what options law enforcement agencies have in such high pressure, dangerous situations. Ulster County hopes the training simulator will help improve interactions between the public and law enforcement officiers by offering citizens a real perspective of what officers face in their line of work.

The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) was created in 2006 when the President signed the ''Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006'' into law. The Adam Walsh Act established the SMART Office to provide guidance to states, local governments, territories, and Indian tribes regarding the implementation of the Act and specifically Title I of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). On July 1, 2008, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey released the National Guidelines on Sex Offender Registration and Notification. These Final Guidelines, designed to assist jurisdictions with their SORNA implementation efforts, will be published in the Federal Register on July 2, 2008. Following the public comment period on the Proposed Guidelines, the SMART Office reviewed the more than 275 comments received and incorporated several suggestions in the Final Guidelines. In conjunction with the release of the Final Guidelines, the SMART Office published a set of frequently asked questions about the Final Guidelines and Fact Sheets to explain significant changes from the Proposed Guidelines, including revised minimum registration requirements for juvenile sex offenders. The SMART Office also manages the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Web site. This system provides real-time access to public sex offender data nationwide with a single Internet search query. The Department-sponsored Web site allows parents, concerned citizens, and employers to easily search multiple public state and territory sex offender registries beyond their own jurisdiction. For more information on the SMART office, visit the SMART Web site.

On the third floor of an unnamed building in the shadow of the state Capitol sits the Iowa Intelligence Fusion Center, an organization tasked with helping to stop future acts of terrorism. Made up of law enforcement personnel and state and federal intelligence analysts, the center has six regional offices around the state and nearly 50 staff members. Law enforcement says it is an essential tool. Civil liberties advocates worry that creating one-stop shops for sensitive information could lead to abuse, but fusion center experts are training those involved with fusion centers on the history of intelligence gathering abuse and how to prevent it in the future. The fusion center concept is expanding across the country, and in the process, creating a nationwide intelligence network. Fusion centers are where the federal, state, and local cops share intelligence, sift data for clues, run down reports of suspicious packages, and connect dots in an effort to detect and thwart drug smuggling, gang fighting, and other menaces to society. This article further expands on the mission of fusion centers, their future funding, and privacy concerns.

In recent testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs regarding ''Information Sharing at the Federal, State, and Local levels,'' Under Secretary Charles E. Allen, Intelligence and Analysis, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS or ''Department''), highlighted the ''…significant progress the Department has made in working with our Federal partners—most notably the DOJ/FBI [U.S. Department of Justice]/[Federal Bureau of Investigation], the DNI [Office of the Director of National Intelligence], and NCTC [National Counter Terrorism Center]—to ensure that the Federal government is working in concert on these issues to maximize the benefit of our actions…. I [also] want to describe the myriad of ways DHS and our Federal partners work with our non-Federal partners [including state, local, and tribal agencies] to ensure that information is gathered and shared among all of us working to protect our country and all who live here.'' Among Under Secretary Allen's list of highlighted accomplishments were a number of Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global)-related recommendations and activities: The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), Privacy and Civil Liberties Training and Technical Assistance, Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR), and National Fusion Center Conferences. To read the entire testimony, please visit: http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/testimony/testimony_1216992676837.shtm.

BLUtube, a new online video sharing platform from San Francisco-, California, based PoliceOne.com, is helping to ensure more messages are shared among the police officers who stand to learn from them. Today, the site is fostering a library of law enforcement-related videos, some for serious training and others, which are lighthearted, uploaded by a handful of especially active members. The result is a video site with a narrower focus than the most popular video sites. BLUtube saves officers from typing ''police'' into a video search box and wading through irrelevant videos that would have no use to them for their training purposes. Instead, BLUtube hosts traditional classroom training videos alongside dashboard-camera footage, crime-related local TV news segments, and reviews and promos for new products. PoliceOne also seeds the site with original content, while building a library of survivor stories and police narratives to serve its new video audience. There is plenty of public content on the site, but it is just a fraction of the 1,200 videos uploaded since BLUtube launched last year. The rest is accessible for free but only to members who have verified they are, in fact, law enforcement community members. The verification process requires everyone signing on with BLUtube and PoliceOne (the sites share a common membership) to enter a badge number and contact number for the agency that employs them. A member of PoliceOne's staff calls and confirms the applicant is a sworn officer before granting access to the site.

This second Annual Report to the Congress on the Information Sharing Environment (ISE) describes the state of the ISE, highlights areas where there has been measurable progress in improving information sharing, and demonstrates the value of the ISE to the Nation's broader counterterrorism (CT) mission. In particular, the President's October 2007 National Strategy for Information Sharing (NSIS) reinforced the importance of information sharing as a national priority. The NSIS integrates all prior terrorism-related information sharing policies, directives, plans, and recommendations, and provides a national framework against which to implement the ISE. While the complexity of the information sharing challenge should not be underestimated, significant progress has been made. This report addresses progress in information sharing to date, while revealing how the paradigm of information sharing—and the ISE in particular—has broadly permeated our institutions of government. For more information on the ISE or to view the full length copy of this report, please visit the ISE Web site.

For the fourth time since its unveiling late last year, Virtual Alabama has won an award. Virtual Alabama has earned the state the 2008 Innovations Award for the Southern Region from the Council of State Governments. Previous awards won by Virtual Alabama were presented by the American Council for Technology, the Google Enterprise Award, and the National Governors Association. Virtual Alabama is a computerized database of information superimposed on satellite imagery and aerial photography of all 67 counties. According to a release from the Governor's Office, it is the only comprehensive database of its kind in the country. The amount of information counties can load on to Virtual Alabama is endless, and the program can help emergency responders, law enforcement, economic developers, and more with their planning and response. The Council of State Governments chose Virtual Alabama because it is a cutting-edge program that can benefit other states. Alabama Homeland Security Director Jim Walker has been in contact with several Southern states as they attempt to develop a Virtual Alabama model in their states.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is hammering out a final rule that will require importers and carriers that ship cargo to U.S. ports to file additional information electronically about shipments before they arrive in the United States. Under the so-called 10 2 rule, which was proposed in January, importers would be required to electronically file 10 additional elements that describe the cargo, and carriers would have to submit two additional pieces of information about the containers and conveyances in which cargo is loaded on ships. The additional information that importers would have to file includes manufacturer or supplier's name and address; seller or owner name and address; country of origin; and recipient name and address. Carriers will be responsible for a vessel stow plan and a container status report on the fullness of the containers. The new regulations would satisfy the requirements of Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006, which are intended to improve officials' ability to target high-risk shipments.

City officials in Anaheim, California, had no shortage of information technology systems. They had several computer-aided dispatch systems—one for fire, one for police, one for other emergencies. They managed calendars on another system, and they managed their vehicles on yet another. City officials wanted to put together a center that could give employees a broader view of city emergency operations. Anaheim officials decided to use a secure Web browser to integrate 13 data sources, including weather conditions from Weather.com, the police department's Informix database, three SQL Server databases, and an Oracle 10g database that contained parcel information. The resulting system, Enterprise Virtual Operations Center (EVOC), also pulls together radio, camera, and Microsoft Exchange e-mail systems via an Internet Explorer browser. Dispatchers can type 911 calls into the system and make them available on EVOC. The EVOC platform, which has been in use for four years, has as many as 500 registered users, most of them city employees. It also supports users in other California cities, including Fullerton, Orange, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Fountain Valley.

Andrew R. Bland, III, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Houston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the opening of a new state of the art digital forensics laboratory which will better serve the region’s law enforcement community. This one-stop, full service forensics laboratory is the new home of the Greater Houston Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (GHRCFL). The GHRCFL is devoted entirely to the examination of digital evidence in support of local, state, and federal criminal investigations. The GHRCFL first opened and began accepting requests for digital forensic services and training in March of 2005. Since that time, the increasing demand for digital forensic services and training warranted the opening of this new facility. This facility will allow the GHRCFL to grow and to add critical examiners, as needed. The GHRCFL is currently seeking additional law enforcement agencies within the region to become partners in this endeavor. Digital forensics is the application of science and engineering to the recovery of digital evidence. GHRCFL examiners apply their skill on a variety of digital devices such as computers, personal digital assistants, cell phones, and an assortment of other digital media devices. Examiners are also capable of extracting deleted, encrypted, or damaged file information that may serve as evidence in a criminal investigation. In addition to supporting criminal, terrorism, and intelligence investigations through forensic data analysis, the GHRCFL will train local law enforcement in the handling of sensitive electronic equipment, computer investigative techniques, and a basic understanding of digital forensics.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Commissioner Gerald Bailey and the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) Deputy Director David Armond have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that affirms cooperation between the two agencies in exchanging relevant investigative and intelligence information to fight organized crime in Florida and the United Kingdom. Commissioner Bailey, a delegate on Florida Governor Charlie Crist's trade mission, signed the MOU with Armond, the Deputy Director for Intervention Proceeds of Crime, in London, England. Under the MOU, FDLE and SOCA commit to work together to share information that will help further each agency's mission to detect and dismantle organized criminal activity and to mitigate the harm and threat to public safety posed by organized crime. The partnership between SOCA and FDLE will enhance Florida's ability to investigate and prosecute international organized criminal groups that pose the greatest threats to Florida's citizens and visitors. FDLE is committed to intelligence and information-led policing. The department houses Florida's Fusion Center, a multiagency round the clock operation that hosts various systems and sources to provide a centralized communication point for Florida law enforcement.

New York Governor David A. Paterson has announced that $12 million in federal funds have been awarded to ten New York counties and the city of Watertown to help improve communications between first responders. The grants are part of the Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) Grant Program and will help state and local emergency responders improve communications and coordination during a natural or man-made disaster. The PSIC grants are made available from funds administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The PSIC Grant Program is a formula-based, matching grant program intended to enhance interoperable communications with respect to voice, data, and/or video signals. PSIC provides public safety agencies with the opportunity to achieve meaningful and measurable improvements to the state of public safety communications interoperability through the full and efficient use of all telecommunications resources.

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) is pleased to announce the availability of funding to develop a community policing institutionalization toolkit to increase the capacity of law enforcement agencies to implement community policing. This toolkit will consist of multiple guidebooks that will be field tested by the applicant and will also include a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote both the toolkit and the general community policing concepts advanced by the toolkit. One award will be made under this program. To be considered for funding, completed applications must be received by the COPS Office no later than July 24, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. The application and application guide can be accessed via the COPS Web site, or by calling the COPS Office Response Center at (800) 421-6770.

Governor Martin O'Malley has announced the development of the Maryland State Communications Interoperability Program. He signed an Executive Order that establishes a statewide communications interoperability plan, which will enable emergency first responders, public safety officials, and all law enforcement agencies to communicate reliably, rapidly, and instantaneously thus enhancing public safety across the state. At an event outside the State Highway Administration, Governor O'Malley made this announcement joined by Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, State Police Superintendent Colonel Terrence Sheridan, and other state and local first responders from throughout Maryland. The new statewide 700 megahertz (MHz) communications system will provide much needed communications, not only for state agencies, but also for local jurisdictions. Construction of the new system will take place in phases over the next five to eight years.

The 2008 National Forum on Criminal Justice and Public Safety will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, August 3-5, 2008. The forum will examine programs and technologies addressing issues confronting law enforcement and justice practitioners and decision makers in states, local communities, and tribal nations. The forum agenda will provide ample opportunities to engage colleagues and presenters in discussion and conversation. Plenary sessions will feature national leaders and experts and outstanding programs and individuals will be recognized by the forum's sponsors-the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA), the IJIS Institute, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The forum begins on Sunday afternoon with an Opening Ceremony and Kick-Off Reception where participants can network with colleagues and peers. On Monday and Tuesday participants will enjoy a full day of workshops from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with two special luncheon presentations. Two keynote speaker sessions will be featured on Monday with national criminal justice experts.

The bait might be a Toyota, Honda, or Acura. It looks like any other car, but it is not. It is abandoned in a neighborhood plagued by a rash of car thefts. If and when—usually when—a thief decides to take the bait, that is when the fun begins. When the thief drives away with the bait car, he may think he has gotten away because there might not be police in the area. But starting or tampering with the car activates a hidden GPS tracking system and alerts the police command center which immediately begins monitoring the vehicle and alerts nearby police units. When activation has occurred, the information is transmitted to the dispatcher. The dispatcher alerts nearby units and gives them a description of the car, the direction of travel, and speed. Increasing safety for the suspect and the officers is a high priority as the Sacramento, California, Police Department does not want any pursuits. Patrol units eventually locate and stop the vehicle. If the occupant decides to flee in the car, the officer can instruct the dispatcher to shut down the vehicle which will bring it to a gradual stop. If necessary, the dispatcher can also lock the bait car's doors, keeping the thief inside as officers approach.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) is pleased to announce the release of its research brief Ready for the Challenge? State CIOs and Electronic Records. The brief is a product of NASCIO's Electronic Records and Digital Preservation Working Group and may be found online. States continue to struggle with new challenges presented by a growing portfolio of electronic records and digital content that must be preserved. Within this context, the issue of electronic records (e-records) management has emerged as a high-priority policy and technology issue for state CIOs. This issue is now driven by emerging trends such as new Web 2.0 collaboration tools that create e-records in forms that are transitory, yet still document the business of government. The importance of the subject is driven by vulnerability of essential e-records during disasters and a growing emphasis on transparency and accountability in state government, including online public access to records on spending, performance, procurements, and contracts.

The shooting took place at 8:30 p.m. By 9:47 p.m., they had a wireless laptop running in the parking lot with mug shots. By 3:30 a.m., they had tracked the suspect to his grandmother's house and by 5:00 a.m., they sent in the dogs. That is what it means to officers who have instant access to vital information, anywhere they are. So, how were these officers able to access this information so quickly? Answer: RAND (Random Access to Nlets Data) Portal project. Developed by Nlets, the International Justice and Public Safety Network and funded through a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the RAND Portal Project’s goal was to create easier access to a broader range of services, enhance RAND capabilities, and lay the foundation for accessing Nlets services over the Internet. It also provided the opportunity for Nlets to apply data mining and analytical tools to RAND. The portal to RAND data significantly increases national law enforcement capabilities. That is the beauty of a portal. A portal is simply a site that functions as a point of access to information through an Internet or intranet. Bypassing traditional hardwired networks, access to information opens up immensely. The RAND Portal project involves customizing a Web interface, originally developed by Maricopa County in Arizona, that will allow Nlets members access to Nlets data using a Web interface. The same security and access controls for traditionally run transactions will remain in place. A user would log on to the application over the Nlets network and run transactions to which they have been granted access. Currently, Arkansas, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, along with strategic partners NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) and NVS (National Vehicle Safety) are testing the portal. They have access to all message keys and enhanced RAND capability through a simple to use Web interface. To find out how your state or agency can participate in the project, contact Senior Project Manager Russ Brodie at rbrodie@nlets.org or (623) 308-3506.

The rate of technological change in recent years is so fast that one could reasonably suggest that the top 10 jobs 10 years from now might not even exist today. Technology is changing the way police departments operate, how grant requests are formatted, and what is requested in the local operating budget. Technologies funded today were not even common knowledge just a few years ago. It is essential for law enforcement executives to stay current with ongoing technological developments. Today's executives need not only to be cognizant of developing technology but also to have a working knowledge of what this technology can do for their agencies. Executives must be skilled in acquiring technology through a variety of funding sources. This article outlines several new technologies, most of which are used currently by the Lafayette, Colorado, Police Department. These technologies were obtained through a series of funding options, including grants from the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC). These technologies function as force multipliers that improve efficiency, effectiveness, and officer safety in a variety of ways.

''Police Enforcement Strategies to Prevent Crime in Hot Spot Areas'' (NCJ 223196) is the second report in the Crime Prevention Research Review series. Using advances in mapping technology, it investigates whether focused police efforts in targeted areas help to control crime or merely relocate it. This report summarizes the findings from all rigorous academic studies evaluating police enforcement strategies in hot spot areas. It finds that focusing efforts on places with high crime and calls for service can effectively be used to prevent crime in those locations. Reduced calls for service and other reductions in crime and disorder measures were noted in most studies. Displacement of crime due to the enforcement efforts was not prevalent in those studies that measured displacement.

Early in 2007, 13 cities in California joined a new network to identify and share effective strategies for preventing gang violence. Sponsored by the National League of Cities' Institute for Youth, Education, and Families in partnership with the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and with the full cooperation of both the California Governor's and Attorney General's offices, the California Cities Gang Prevention Network has helped jump-start collaborative antigang efforts that will generate insights for other cities across the nation. The network rests on the core assumption that gang violence can be reduced if participating cities develop citywide plans that mobilize the commitment of key stakeholders and that the cities share their lessons—both positive and negative—with each other. Participating cities include Fresno, Los Angeles (San Fernando Valley), Oakland, Oxnard, Richmond, Sacramento, Salinas, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Rosa, and Stockton. Each city has formed a five- to eight-member team with at least one representative from the mayor’s office, the chief of police, and the community, as well as other municipal leaders, law enforcement officials, school administrators, and faith-based and nonprofit stakeholders. The network is supported by a consortium of private foundations.

''Effective Police Communications Systems Require New Governance'' (NCJ 222362), a publication distributed by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), describes how police departments effectively communicate with each other to protect and serve citizens. To do that, police departments create ''governance'' agreements to jointly own, operate, and manage communications systems for the benefit of all participating agencies which may be in different counties or states. The entire public safety community now realizes that partnerships are needed to meet future challenges. Agencies are rethinking communications and data sharing procedures and are learning new ways to communicate and exchange information. Successful governance arrangements will be critical to these efforts. For more information on this topic, including how to make governance work and formulating governance structures, see the full article.

Gwinnett County, Georgia, located 30 miles northeast of Atlanta, is implementing Agile Technologies' Judicial Inquiry System (JIS), Judicial Data Exchange (JDX), and Criminal Investigation (CI) suite of products. With a population of approximately 780,000, and a projected population of 1.2 million in 2010, Gwinnett County will use the new technology to integrate with its current Criminal Justice Information System Community of Interest (CJIS COI) infrastructure to maximize justice data sharing. The integration will simplify current processes, facilitate data movement, and govern data access. As a result, the county expects to systematically improve the operational efficiency of the existing criminal justice systems by streamlining information and data entry. The Judicial Data Exchange (JDX) technology is based on the Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM), a tool that is used in planning and implementing justice integration projects utilizing the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM).

Oklahoma City is celebrating the success of its city-owned and -operated municipal wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) mesh network, a $5 million taxpayer-funded project that took more than two years to build and that provides 150 applications used by police, firefighters, and other city workers. The celebration is designed to publicly announce the success of that relatively inexpensive infrastructure, which supports the city's critical communications for police and fire and creates a number of efficiencies for inspectors. By using mobile nodes in vehicles, the city has greatly reduced the number of fixed nodes it needs to install on poles and buildings for a 555-square mile network at a great cost savings. The Wi-Fi network is now managed as part of the city's information technology (IT) infrastructure, not separately, which means that applications available over wired local area networks can run reliably wirelessly. Among the applications now being used are the ability to view video of roads and high-risk crime locations from 300 cameras. Video images can be routed to police officers in squad cars or to firefighters responding to fires, and criminal arrest records and building plans can be routed to emergency responders. In addition, building inspection results can be made available on the same day of an inspection, saving days over the older system. In development is the ability to link water utilities with a global positioning system (GPS) system, meaning emergency workers can track what houses to evacuate during a flood. Next, the National Weather Service is planning to put weather stations at dozens of locations to accurately measure heat spikes, information that is useful in the prediction of tornadoes and other storms

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) responds internationally to Americans being seriously harmed overseas. Through the FBI's victim assistance program, they ensure that victims and their families receive all the rights and services help they are entitled to under U.S. law—ensuring victims and their families have what they need to help put their lives back together. In 2002, the FBI established its Office for Victim Assistance to aid victims of crimes investigated by the Bureau. In addition to experts at FBI headquarters, every FBI field office has its own victim assistance specialist. Soon after establishing the Office for Victim Assistance, the FBI recognized that victims of overseas crimes fell under their jurisdiction—like terrorism and kidnappings—had unique needs. To support this need, they formed the Terrorism Victim Assistance Program within the Office for Victim Assistance. Included on the special terrorism team are licensed clinical social workers and a forensic family affairs specialist—arming the team with all of the necessary experience they needed to adequately work with victims, particularly bombing victims. The team also collaborates with partner agencies such as the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and the Dover Air Force Base Mortuary.

Crime victims will now be able to locate any of the more than 25,000 inmates in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) at any time thanks to a partnership between DOC and the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office. DOC is now taking full advantage of the Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) program, which is funded through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). ''Through DOC's diligent work, Oklahomans will now have 24-hour-a-day access to information they could previously obtain only from a live person during business hours. The system will be available to everyone, but the information is particularly valuable to crime victims who are concerned about their safety and that of their loved ones.'' Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said. Oklahomans can now be notified, either by phone or e-mail, of changes in a particular inmate's status. Status changes include transfer, release, escape, or death. In addition to the involvement of DOC and the Attorney General’s Office, local county Sheriffs are also playing an important role in this program, as currently this program is in place in 66 counties throughout Oklahoma (which will allow Oklahomans to be notified about changes in the custody status of inmates within Oklahoma's county jails) and should be operational in the remaining counties by the end of August.

Currently, many 911 call centers are not equipped to receive text messages. They also cannot handle cell phone photos or streaming video from closed-circuit TV cameras or devices used by the hearing-impaired. When Vermont's emergency response community switched to a new Internet protocol (IP)-based 911 telecommunications system in two data centers in February 2007, it put the state on the leading edge of the nationwide transition to next-generation 911 (NG 911) call centers. ''All incoming calls go to one of the two data centers and are converted to voice over IP (VoIP),'' explained Jim Lipinski, Information Technology (IT) manager of the Vermont Enhanced 911 Board in Montpelier. From there, the calls are routed to one of nine call centers (also known as public safety answering points or PSAPs) around the state. If one PSAP is busy with calls or knocked out of service by a storm, calls can instantly be routed to a second tier of nearby PSAPs. ''We can add flexibility while shrinking our whole system,'' Lipinski said. ''We were able to decommission a PSAP that was taking less than 1 percent of calls statewide.'' Across the country, regional and state officials are working on standards and funding mechanisms to shift from legacy systems to IP-based networks to bring the country's 6,500 call centers into the 21st century. In essence, 911 centers are working to catch up with the profusion of consumer devices that send and receive text, data, and digital images.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced a $17 million award to Missouri's state government to lead the development of a common interface that states will use to verify documents that individuals use to apply for state-issued identification as part of the Real ID program. The ''verification hub'' will act as a central router that states can use to confirm the documentation against other states' databases, as well as federal document issuing authorities. DHS also announced grants of $1.2 million each to Florida, Indiana, Nevada, and Wisconsin to test and implement the initiative. The Real ID final rule published in January set a minimum standard for state-issued identification and requirements for how data is stored and shared between states' department of motor vehicles. By May 11, 2011, states must have completed the information technology and communication infrastructure necessary for Real ID. DHS' Real ID program is meant to implement requirements laid out by the Real ID Act of 2005. DHS said the system would ''be built and governed by the states.''

Sheriff's deputies at Century Station, part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, are now using ''digital eyes'' to protect citizens on the streets of Lynwood, California, and the surrounding unincorporated areas. As part of its Advanced Surveillance and Protection Plan (ASAP), the department has deployed a wireless video surveillance network enabled by Firetide Inc., a leading developer of wireless mesh and access networks. The deputies have already made several arrests as a direct result of this surveillance, including one when deputies spotted a drug deal in progress in the park next to a neighborhood school. ASAP serves to expand the use of advanced technologies in the field, strengthen criminal prosecution with video evidence, and provide real-time intelligence to improve officer safety. Technologies incorporated into ASAP also include acoustic gunshot detection and automatic license plate recognition.

The 10th Annual Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness Conference and Exposition highlights the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ), U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) technology and training tools currently available and being developed for the emergency responder community, as well as provides a forum for emergency responders to discuss best practices and exchange information. With 1,500 attendees and 200 exhibits and demonstrations expected, this conference offers a unique opportunity for emergency responders, business and industry, academia and local, tribal, state, and federal stakeholders to network, exchange ideas, and address common critical incident technology and preparedness needs, protocols, and solutions. This conference will take place on October 29-31, 2008, in Chicago Illinois. For more information on this conference or to register, please visit the conference Web site.

The cities of Middleton, Fitchburg, and Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, have similar-sized populations, are almost equidistant, and are on the outskirts of Wisconsin's capital city, Madison. They also share some things that are far less obvious—an encrypted wireless network that links their police departments, a bundle of high-tech software, and the joint commission responsible for it all. The MultiJurisdictional Public Safety Information System (MPSIS) task force was formed four years ago to fix the police departments' ailing records management systems and since then, it has procured high-tech tools and provided cost savings. The MPSIS is also open to the idea of other police departments coming on board. This article expands on the advances made and obstacles encountered by these cities including—implementing wireless technology, complying with federal mandates, working with available resources, and consortium formation. [Related Article]

Few are more aware of the major challenge of protecting New Jersey from terrorist and criminal activities than Rich Kelly, who recently retired from a top position at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Newark Field Office to head New Jersey’s Regional Operations Intelligence Center (ROIC). The Rock, as it is called by people who work there, is a fusion center—a new type of facility being created in states and major urban areas, often with federal grant assistance, to improve threat information sharing and coordination with federal authorities. ROIC houses local and federal law enforcement officials from various New Jersey state agencies; the Philadelphia Police Department; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS); the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and the FBI. Each day, analysts from each of these agencies share current threat information which they receive from each of their organizations. Multiple databases from different agencies bring gigabytes of law enforcement and intelligence information into the fusion center. Prior to September 11, 2001, rarely did these agencies openly share information with each other. Such reluctance has since dissolved into a willingness to now exchange threat information as a joint effort to better protect the United States from future terror attacks. According to DHS, there are now almost 70 fusion centers nationwide, each substantially different from the next. DHS has asked each state to designate a primary fusion center. For more information on ROIC and a closer look inside the fusion center, please visit the following Web site.

The White House has issued a new directive providing instructions for standardizing the methods employed by federal agencies to collect, maintain, and share biometric data such as fingerprints and other physiological or behavioral characteristics of suspected terrorists. Essentially, the National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD-59) on ''Biometrics for Identification and Screening to Enhance National Security'' requires intelligence agencies to make their systems interoperable with one another. The effort will enable all agencies to run analyses on all biometric data collected by any agency. This article further describes the history behind the move towards inter- and intra-agency information sharing, as well as the breakthroughs in technology--namely the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM) and the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)--that have facilitated this information exchange while allowing agencies to continue to utilize their legacy systems.

In order to effectively share information, agencies have to be willing to come together, sit down, and talk about their current status, future needs, and available resources. Partnerships need to be formulated and not just public partnerships but public-private partnerships as well. This article gives some prime examples of partnerships between both public and private agencies and describes the process utilized to achieve valuable interoperability. Agencies that in the past have struggled to communicate with each other are now sharing information in a timely manner and systems that were at one time thought to be out of reach are now a reality (thanks to the contribution of some private sector partners). The success of these partnerships and the willingness of these agencies to come together and step out of their comfort zones in order to interoperate cannot be overstated. In fact, one of these stories was deemed a ''Best Practice for Wireless Networks for Rural Law Enforcement'' by the Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

Biometrics is the ability to use an individual's anatomical or behavioral attributes for identification purposes. At Michigan State University (MSU), one researcher has created an automatic image retrieval system, whereby law enforcement agencies will be able to match scars, marks, and tattoos to identify suspects and victims. Referred to as ''Tattoo-ID,'' the software developed by Anil Jain uses databases of distinguishing marks supplied by the law enforcement community, and each image is linked to a criminal history for suspects and convicted criminals with similar marks. A search based on an image provided by the user will then produce results relating to similar tattoos, marks, or scars and the associated records for individuals that have those distinguishing marks. While a scar, mark, or tattoo cannot uniquely identify a person, it can help the authorities narrow down a list of potential identities—it can indicate membership in a gang, social or religious group, or military unit.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that it is taking steps to enhance its Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN). Known as HSIN Next Generation (NextGen), the enhancement will provide a secure and trusted national platform for Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) information sharing and collaboration between local, tribal, state, federal, territorial, private sector, and international partners. HSIN Next Generation will update the current HSIN technology to better enable Homeland Security to meet the requirements of a trusted and secure environment, combined with enhanced capabilities in many areas. HSIN NextGen will provide DHS, its partners, and stakeholders information management capabilities and services including a portal, search, collaboration, enterprise content management, and Service Oriented Architecture-based information integration and analysis functions to facilitate their collaboration and information sharing needs for SBU data.

The Performance Measurement for Justice Information System Projects guide was developed under the guidance and leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in partnership with the Center for Society, Law, and Justice. The guide was designed to help criminal justice and law enforcement justice information sharing professionals develop performance measures for their projects. These measures are important for agency management and planning and help BJA fulfill its own responsibilities to assess the projects it supports. The guide helps managers, staff, and executives develop measures in two ways—by offering comments and advice on the process of developing measures and by providing a catalog of workable examples for specific types of projects. This guide is also designed to assist criminal justice information sharing professionals implement special summary performance measures (to support the Office of Management and Budget [OMB] Program Assessment Rating Tool [PART] review) that BJA has developed to meet its responsibilities under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The U.S. Congress requires all federal agencies, including BJA, to provide performance measures assessing the value of their funding programs. These summary measures will allow BJA to aggregate the results of many projects into a few general measures to document the value of its overall investment in criminal justice and law enforcement justice information sharing projects.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released new National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)-based information exchanges that will greatly enhance law enforcement information sharing efforts. The Law Enforcement National Data Exchange (N-DEx) Incident-Arrest Information Exchange Package Document (IEPD) v2.0.0 and the N-DEx Incarceration-Booking IEPD v2.0.0 beta1 are now available online in the Justice Standards Clearhouse. Users may also access these documents directly by selecting the following link: New IEPDs. The purpose of the N-DEx Incident-Arrest IEPD and N-DEx Incarceration-Booking IEPD is to provide criminal justice agencies documentation that lists exchange specifications to be used for the exchange of criminal justice information that is complete, accurate, and timely. These IEPDs are based on the NIEM IEPD Template Requirements document and contains written documentation, schemas, instance documents, style sheets, mapping spreadsheets, and additional documentation.

According to recent Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) data, a majority of local agencies have either a Planning and Research unit or personnel assigned the responsibility. Planning and research functions support innovation and contribute to advancing community policing through varied and complex activities. Their roles can include developing and maintaining agency policies and procedures, managing the accreditation process, writing grants, serving as a resource for officers on special projects, and even conducting crime analysis and mapping activities. They can also support strategic planning; agency performance benchmarking and measurement; and evaluations of tactics, strategies, and programs. Nevertheless, their value is not often maximized. This article discusses four ways in which planning and research can play a more active and systematic role in promoting innovation and supporting community policing goals.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently clarified the guidelines for local and state fusion center intelligence analysts under the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP). These guidelines apply to FY 2006, 2007, and 2008. Under current DHS guidelines, there is a two-year limitation on using HSGP funds for intelligence analysts. The new guidelines extend the limitation to three years, allowing for an additional year to develop intelligence capability. The information provided by local and state analysts is of tremendous value to DHS, and DHS has made this policy change so that local and state fusion centers can succeed both in establishing and retaining these analyst positions. The more DHS learns about the fusion process, the more essential state and local analysts have become in formulating the intelligence picture. This activity supports DHS in the mission of sharing relevant information across the DHS Intelligence Enterprise and the Intelligence Community. For further details on the HSGP grant guidance, please see the DHS information bulletin.

The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is accepting nominations beginning May 30, 2008, for the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor, the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer. The medal is awarded by the President to public safety officers cited by the Attorney General who have exhibited exceptional courage in protecting or saving lives. Public safety officers who have performed acts of valor from June 1, 2007, to May 31, 2008, may be nominated by the chief executive of their employing agencies for this award. The nomination period begins Friday, May 30, 2008, and ends at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, 2008. Additional information about the Medal of Valor, including online nomination forms and those honored for their acts of courage is available on the Medal of Valor Web site at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/medalofvalor.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has continued to increase their involvement in analyzing and disseminating intelligence information, which until a few years ago, was handled exclusively by the well-established acronyms of the intelligence community—the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and NSA (National Security Agency). The role of DHS expanded in 2005 with the formation of the agency’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), part of an extensive reorganization to improve the department’s alignment and to better integrate it into the larger intelligence community and national security structure. Bolstering state and local information sharing is one of the office’s primary duties, but I&A also supports the department’s operational efforts and works in the larger, 16-agency intelligence community. I&A leads federal involvement in state and local intelligence fusion centers where, at more than 50 locations around the country, authorities from all levels of government share information related to terrorism.

Progress continues to be made in the areas of law enforcement information sharing. Most of the improvements in data sharing flow from the development of the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM), a standard that provides a common vocabulary and structure for the exchange of data among law enforcement databases. Initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Global JXDM was released in 2003. In 2005, Chief Information Officers from DOJ and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agreed to build the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), an extension of Global JXDM that facilitates data sharing beyond law enforcement to the areas of justice, public safety, intelligence, homeland security, emergency management, and disaster management. This article further expands on current initiatives (including the NIEM-compliant National Data Exchange [NDEx]), adoption and use of these information sharing initiatives, and the future of information sharing.

The Greater Houston Transportation and Emergency Management Center, also known as Houston TranStar, has launched an emergency notification system built on the Roam Secure Alert Network (RSAN) from Cooper Notification. Using this network, transportation and emergency management personnel in greater Houston can now quickly and reliably communicate and collaborate via e-mail, text messaging, and other channels. Houston TranStar is a partnership of four government agencies responsible for coordinating the planning, design, and operations of transportation and emergency management in the greater Houston region. Houston TranStar officials can use RSAN for interagency notifications of localized roadway flooding, chemical plant explosions, or public transit route diversions. Over 180 RSAN systems are currently operating across the country at local, state, and federal government agencies, schools, hospitals, refineries, and other key businesses. Houston is the seventh major U.S. city to implement the RSAN system for emergency communications.

The IJIS Institute has announced the formation of a new committee designed to support the development of information technology standards for law enforcement agencies. The institute is a nonprofit company supported by more than 130 information technology companies that serve law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. The mission of the institute is to harness the technological experience and knowledge of industry to help state and local governments in particular develop better ways of sharing information using computer technology. The work of the institute is documented at (www.ijis.org). The purpose of the newly announced IT standards committee is first to broaden industry involvement in the vetting and endorsement of standards for dispatch and records systems and then to move beyond the functional standards to develop the technical standards needed to support information exchanges between dispatch and records systems from different companies and the exchange of information with other justice computer systems in prosecutor and court agencies.

President George W. Bush' administration has released new standards for how agencies should label sensitive but unclassified (SBU) information to simplify the more than 100 different markings or handling instructions that officials now attach to that data. The number of categorizations for SBU data has worried lawmakers and government auditors who say that the agency-specific unique labels and instructions were confusing and impeded sharing terrorism-related data. Advocates of open government have expressed concern about how labeling unclassified data affects accessibility. The new ''Controlled Unclassified Information'' (CUI) framework replaces the SBU categorization and establishes three CUI categories (controlled with standard dissemination, controlled with specified dissemination, and controlled enhanced with specified dissemination) and agencies that are part of the federal information sharing environment or the information sharing council should label unclassified data that is considered sensitive under those categories.

VictimLaw has been designed as a comprehensive, user-friendly online database of victims’ rights statutes, tribal laws, constitutional amendments, court rules, administrative code provisions, and case summaries of related court decisions that meets the needs of a wide variety of users with different levels of substantive and technological expertise. VictimLaw also offers brief victims' rights and justice system overviews. Such ready access to information can advance the cause of crime victims’ rights by facilitating the exercise, implementation, and enforcement of those rights. This resource was developed by the National Center for Victims of Crime with funding from the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has released the Electronic Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for First Responders, Second Edition. This document is intended for first responders who may have the responsibility of protecting, recognizing, collecting, and preserving electronic evidence at a variety of crime scenes. The first chapter profiles the types of electronic devices commonly encountered in crime scenes, provides a general description of each type of device, and describes the potential evidence that may be found in each type of equipment. Chapter 2 lists the investigative tools and equipment recommended for the collection, packaging, and transportation of electronic evidence. Chapter 3 focuses on securing and evaluating the crime scene and outlines the steps necessary to ensure the safety of all persons at the scene while protecting the integrity of all evidence— traditional and electronic. Chapter 4 provides guidelines for documenting the scene, while Chapter 5 covers evidence collection procedures. Chapter 6 then addresses procedures for packaging, transportation, and storage of electronic evidence. The concluding chapter provides guidelines for the forensic examination of electronic evidence by 14 crime categories. A glossary completes the guide.

The 41st Annual 2008 Nlets Conference will be held June 16–19, 2008, in Montgomery, Alabama, at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and is shaping up to be the best yet. This conference will be packed with valuable information, ideas, and opportunities to share. Participants will also have the opportunity to meet the newest strategic partners and talk to vendors. The goal of the Nlets conference is to have participants go back to their agencies with a great deal of information to share. For more information on the Nlets conference and instructions on how to register, please visit the conference Web site. The mission of Nlets, The International Justice and Public Safety Network, is to provide within a secure environment an international justice telecommunications capability and information services that will benefit to the highest degree, the safety, the security, and the preservation of human life and the protection of property.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) today launched a redesigned Web site featuring expanded content, improved navigation tools, and a new digital subscription service. The site's fresh content includes a Frequently Asked Questions section and a gallery of photographs suitable for use by news organizations. Both are supported by an innovative design and enhanced graphics. A digital subscription management feature offers users multiple ways to receive the latest news and information, tailored to personal preferences. An RSS feed, for instance, pushes real time information to cell phones, Web browsers, or personal digital assistants. An additional service sends instant electronic mail (e-mail) alerts when new information is posted. Both features allow subscribers to target updates to content of their choosing, such as congressional testimony, speeches, or new documents posted to the ODNI's Reading Room. Navigating the Web site has been made easier, especially for first-time visitors. Links are more intuitive and are designed to require no more than three clicks to find information. To view the new site or sign up for the subscription service, visit www.dni.gov.

Connecting to an unsecure network can leave you vulnerable to attacks from hackers. One of the most common types of attack is this: a bogus but legitimate-looking Wi-Fi network with a strong signal is strategically set up in a known hot spot...and the hacker waits for nearby laptops to connect to it. At that point, your computer—and all your sensitive information, including user identification (ID), passwords, credit card numbers, etc.—basically belongs to the hacker. The intruder can mine your computer for valuable data, direct you to phony Web pages that look like ones you frequent, and record your every keystroke. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offers some advice to decrease the threat. Unless you have to, do not connect to an unknown Wi-Fi network; make sure your laptop security is up to date, with current versions of your operating system, Web browser, firewalls, and antivirus and antispyware software; do not conduct financial transactions or use applications, such as e-mail and instant messaging; change the default setting on your laptop so you have to manually select the Wi-Fi network to which you connect; and, turn off your laptop's Wi-Fi capabilities when you are not using them. For more basic information on computer security, see the FBI's How to Protect Your Computer Web page.

The use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags is developing a niche in U.S. correctional facilities. RFID can be used as a tracking system in prisons, which lets correctional officers keep tabs on inmates and mitigate or prevent disturbances. In the event of an assault or other emergency situation, staff will immediately know the identities and prison histories of everyone involved, because every infraction committed by an inmate is stored in a database. Investigations can be finished much more quickly, and the facility can avoid going into lockdown mode, which puts a strain on staff. Prison administrators can use RFID tags for other purposes, such as keeping rival gang members away from one another. The system can be set up to trigger an alarm whenever rival gang members get within 10 feet of each other. The systems also can track an inmate suspected of being a ''mule,'' or a contraband carrier. The person can be tracked all day to see where he goes and with whom he is in contact. Correctional facilities in California, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Minnesota have deployed RFID tracking systems to help manage inmates. In its limited use thus far, RFID has proved its worth as a security tool for correctional systems. As prisons continue to deal with overcrowding, RFID could be a necessary piece of equipment in the future for corrections.

As rising fuel costs put the squeeze on law enforcement department budgets, chiefs and sheriffs are searching for ways to sustain their current level of operations, while using less gasoline. Some are finding their solutions in differential responses to calls for service, modified patrol methods, and use of vehicles with improved gas mileage or alternative fuels. The need to find innovative ways to save on fuel costs while continuing to provide the level of service communities have come to expect is likely to remain a long-term challenge for police chiefs and sheriffs. This article’s review of recent news coverage of higher fuel costs, as well as conversations that were conducted with a variety of law enforcement officials, suggest that there are a number of ways that agencies can mitigate the impact on their agency budget. This article strives to highlight some short-term as well as potentially long-term solutions found, an important consideration because gas is unlikely to return to the lower prices enjoyed in the past.

With funding support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) is pleased to announce the release of its new issue brief ‘‘Data Governance Part I – An Introduction.’’ This issue brief is part of NASCIO’s series on Enterprise Governance and presents an overview of this very broad subject. Data governance is presented as an operating discipline that must ultimately encompass all types of electronic data, information, and knowledge as enterprise assets that must be well managed in order to enable government to deliver positive citizen outcomes. The governance challenge was ranked as one of the top ten priorities of state CIOs in a survey of the states conducted in October 2007. This issue brief is available at: www.nascio.org/publications.

The Plano (Texas) Police Department has partnered with CrimeReports.com to alert citizens when a crime situation occurs in their area. The free service provides easy-to-read incident crime maps and automated alerts. The CrimeReports service is free to the public and allows citizens to receive automatic daily, weekly, or monthly e-mail alerts, if and when crimes occur near their home, office, or local school. Citizens can also view reported crime activity for any location within Plano's boundaries. Crime incident data is updated nightly and includes incident type, date, location, distance from citizen's address, case number, and brief crime incident description. The CrimeReports service is an implementation of the Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM), the authorized data sharing protocol developed and supported by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Using GJXDM as the underlying technology gives the application much more versatility and flexibility. If adjacent law enforcement agencies choose to integrate with the service, side-by-side data will be readily available for both alerting and analytics. For more information or to sign up for this service, please visit the Plano Police Department's Web site at www.plano.gov/departments/police. The service was launched in beta with the Metropolitan Police of Washington, DC, in March 2007 and was made available to any accredited law enforcement agency in the United States in August 2007.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that will establish biometric exit procedures at all U.S. air and sea ports of departure. The majority of non-U.S. citizens and nonpermanent residents, except for Canadians, are already required to submit digital fingerprints and a digital photograph for admission into the country. The US-VISIT Exit proposal would require non-U.S. citizens, who provide biometric identifiers for admission, to also provide digital fingerprints when departing the country from any air or sea ports of departure. The United States Congress, the 9/11 Commission, and the department have concluded that biometric records of the entry and exit of international visitors are essential for the integrity of the nation's immigration and border management system. The proposed rule does not change current exit procedures for departing visitors. Visitors departing the United States should continue to return their paper Form I-94 or Form I-94W to airline or ship representatives. DHS completed a test of biometric exit procedures at several U.S. airports and seaports last year. Based on the results of this test, DHS determined that biometric exit procedures must be integrated into the existing traveler process to ensure compliance and provide visitors with a consistent experience from port to port.

With support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Law Enforcement Information Technology Standards Council (LEITSC) is excited to announce the release of the Standard Functional Specifications for Law Enforcement Records Management Systems Version II. The Standard Functional Specifications for Law Enforcement Records Management System Version II are intended to be generic in nature rather than favor one particular system or approach over another. These specifications are at the functional level--they define what is to be accomplished versus how it should be accomplished. The specifications were developed to depict the minimal amount of functionality that a new law enforcement records management system should contain. They are not intended to simply be substituted for a request for proposal but rather to assist agencies of any size in their development of a request for proposal. They are designed to serve as living documents and will be modified in concurrence with the ever-changing technological environment and as law enforcement needs mature.

The U.S. intelligence community is making incremental progress in establishing interoperability across its many information collection, storage, and retrieval systems, according to updates given this week by the chief information officers of seven major intelligence agencies. During a rare group appearance at a panel discussion in Arlington, Virginia, the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) highlighted their agencies' progress in simplifying information exchange within the U.S. intelligence community. This article summarizes the progress made towards interoperability by the agencies detailed above.

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey announced a new strategy in the fight against international organized crime that will address this growing threat to U.S. security and stability. The Law Enforcement Strategy to Combat International Organized Crime (the strategy) was developed following an October 2007 International Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOC Threat Assessment) and will address the demand for a strategic, targeted, and concerted U.S. response to combat the identified threats. This strategy builds on the broad foundation the Administration has developed in recent years to enhance information sharing and to secure U.S. borders and financial systems from a variety of transnational threats. The strategy establishes an investigation and prosecution framework as committed and connected as the international organized crime structure it must combat. U.S. federal law enforcement agencies, in an unprecedented cooperative effort on this issue, will share international organized crime information and intelligence, collectively identify and prioritize the most significant threats, and then put the full force of U.S. law enforcement's expertise and resources toward mitigating those threats. In addition, U.S. law enforcement will increase cooperation with international partners to bring international criminals to justice, in the United States and abroad.

Nearly every state now has a fusion center to address gaps in data sharing, but according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released April 17, 2008, many are not being used to their full potential because of problems that range from getting clearance to access information to the lack of funding needed to hire and retain personnel. The report explained that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Office of the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE) are taking steps to remedy these challenges. It also said the PM-ISE agreed with a GAO recommendation that the federal government define and articulate its long-term role for fusion centers and whether the federal government will provide resources for fusion center sustainability. [GAO Report]

Following a successful prototype, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched the first phase of the National Data Exchange (N-DEx) last month to a controlled number of agencies. N-DEx is what you might expect—a national information sharing system available through a secure Internet site for law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. N-DEx allows agencies to search and analyze data using some powerful automated capabilities, helping to connect the dots between people, places, and events. Right now, the system includes several basic but vital capabilities, including searching and correlating incident/case report information and arrest data to help resolve entities (determining a person’s true identity despite different aliases, addresses, etc.). N-DEx will also create link analysis charts to assist in criminal investigations and identify potential terrorist activity. Once fully operational and fully deployed in 2010, N-DEx will include a full range of capabilities, including nationwide searches from a single access point; searches by “modus operandi” and for clothing, tattoos, associates, cars, etc.—linking individuals, places, and things; notifications of similar investigations and suspects; identification of criminal activity hotspots and crime trends; threat level assessments of individuals and addresses; and visualization and mapping features. [Related Article]

In conjunction with the seventh annual New York State Missing Persons Day, specialists from the University of North Texas, Center for Human Identification, gave a presentation on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS) database. The system operated by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), will be available in 2009 and will act as a central warehouse of records on unidentified remains and missing person reports. System data will be searched for any possible matches. The system will also use DNA gathered from a family member as a part of the identification process. NIJ plans to provide sample collection kits, requiring a swab inside the mouth of a family member, to family members free of charge. The public can log on to www.namus.gov to view and tour the site and preview the records currently on the system. [Related Article]

For more than a decade, the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), annual conference has brought together criminal justice scholars, policymakers, and practitioners at the local, state, and federal levels to share the most recent findings from research and technology. The conference showcases what works, what does not work, and what the research shows as promising. It puts a heavy emphasis on the benefits to researchers and practitioners who work together to create effective evidence-based policies and practices. The DNA Grantees Workshop, formerly a separate event, is now an integral part of the NIJ Conference. Combining the former DNA Grantees Workshop with the NIJ Conference allows the opportunity to feature innovations in forensic sciences and related policy and resource issues. The NIJ Conference also features opportunities for practitioners, researchers, and presenters to exchange ideas, including a ''Town Hall'' luncheon and several evening activities. If you have any questions regarding the NIJ Conference, please contact Maria Young at myoung@palladianpartners.com

Leave it to America's biggest city to launch an equally big high-speed data network. The New York City Wireless Network (NYCWiN) was rolled out to 70 percent of the city's police precincts and firehouses on April 1, 2008, giving the city's first responders and employees a unique public safety and public service network. NYCWiN will run on 400 nodes across five boroughs—with many of the access points perched on rooftops. New York City Chief Information Officer (CIO) Paul Cosgrave, in testimony to the City Council in February, said NYCWiN can support a diverse array of functions. In addition, the wireless network will be a powerful tool for law enforcement and public safety personnel. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) Real Time Crime Center will link into NYCWiN, which will support Internet protocol (IP)-based emergency call boxes and surveillance cameras. Police officers will have access to in-car photos and video. The wireless network was piloted in Lower Manhattan beginning in January 2007. Ninety-five percent of the city will be covered by this summer, and the network will be entirely built out by the end of 2008.

The National Homeland Security Consortium has outlined a vision for how the nation should address homeland security in the modern era in a new white paper, Protecting Americans in the 21st Century: Imperatives for the Homeland. In particular, the paper urges an equal partnership among local, state, and federal government as well as private entities in setting national homeland security goals, policies, and procedures. The paper also recommends improvements in the areas of Communication and Collaboration; Intelligence and Information Sharing; Use of the Military; Health and Medical; Interoperability; Critical Infrastructure; Surge Capacity and a Unified National Capabilities Approach; Sustained Resources and Capabilities; and Immigration and Border Security. The National Homeland Security Consortium is a unique, one-of-a-kind group of key state and local organizations, elected officials, the private sector, and others with roles and responsibilities for homeland security prevention, preparedness, response and recovery activities. The Consortium is administered by the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), a recognized entity by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and works in partnership with other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently adopted a First Report and Order (Order) that will support the ability of the nation's wireless carriers to transmit timely and accurate alerts, warnings, and critical information to the cell phones and other mobile devices of consumers during disasters or other emergencies. In compliance with the Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act (WARN Act), the Order adopts relevant technical requirements based on the recommendations of the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee (CMSAAC) for the transmission of such emergency messages to the public. Once fully implemented, the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) will help ensure that Americans who subscribe to participating wireless services receive emergency alerts when there is a disaster or emergency that may impact their lives or well-being. Wireless carriers that choose to participate in the CMAS will transmit text-based alerts to their subscribers. As technology evolves, the CMAS may eventually include audio and video services to transmit emergency alerts to the public. To ensure that people with disabilities who subscribe to wireless services receive these emergency alerts, the FCC adopted rules that will require wireless carriers who participate in the CMAS to transmit messages with both vibration cadence and audio attention signals.

The International Justice and Public Safety Information Sharing Network, referred to as Nlets, is taking the lead on a National Institute of Justice (NIJ)-funded project to coordinate standards and policies and implement exchange services for States to share drivers' license photos. The pilot portion of the project is underway in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia; the project's main goal is to deploy a limited operational capability to exchange electronic images from the respective departments of motor vehicles for the sole purpose of positive identification. The project uses the existing Nlets infrastructure and network, with Nlets providing guidance in developing model policies. Sharing drivers' license photos is listed as a top priority of law enforcement agencies across the country, according to Nlets. Plans call for gradual expansion of the project throughout the Nation following the pilot phase. For more information on Nlets, visit www.nlets.org. For specific information on the project, contact Bonnie Lock at blocke@nlets.org. Information on initial project results will be available later in 2008.

This technology institute, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and hosted by the Rural Law Enforcement Technology Center, is designed for the command staff of rural and small law enforcement agencies containing less than 50 sworn officers. Law enforcement personnel will learn about and discuss technology initiatives and issues affecting the rural and small law enforcement community. Participants will receive information and assistance on existing and developing technologies, work through problems relating to technology implementation, and exchange technology lessons learned, that are of importance to the rural and small law enforcement community. The technology institute will be held in Coronado (San Diego), California, October 26-30, 2008. There is no registration cost and all travel, food, and lodging expenses are paid. However, only 35 individuals will be selected to attend. Previous attendees of the Rural Law Enforcement Technology Institute or NIJ's Law Enforcement or Corrections Technology Institutes are not eligible to reattend. The deadline for submitting an application is August 1, 2008. Please contact Scott Barker, Deputy Director, Rural Law Enforcement Technology Center at (866) 787-2553 or by e-mail at ruletc1@aol.com for additional information about the Rural Law Enforcement Technology Institute.

In Whatcom County, Washington, software design teams are completing the process of mapping the Blaine Police Service Point to make law enforcement reports from the Blaine Police Department available for sharing on the Whatcom Exchange Network (WENET) portal. WENET is a multijurisdictional law and justice information exchange program that utilized the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM). WENET provides real-time data sharing between law enforcement agencies in Whatcom County, the Whatcom County Jail, and the Whatcom County Prosecutor's Office. WENET makes available to law and justice practitioners multiple sources of critical information that can now be accessed from one site. There is no longer a need to log in and out of multiple systems to locate law and justice information. Officers in the field have access to multiple databases simultaneously, and the data is displayed on their patrol car computer screens via one access point. In addition, the federally funded LinX project has received support from both the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to make the technical connection with the WENET portal to expose all available information to participating LinX partners from within Whatcom County. The design team is currently working with the LinX technicians to complete that link. [More on this story.]

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is announcing the first-ever strategy to improve the ability of intelligence professionals to share information, ultimately strengthening national security. The document titled the U.S. Intelligence Community Information Sharing Strategy, complements a related national strategy that President Bush released last year. The document responds to needs identified in the 9/11 and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Commission reports, as well as mandates in executive orders and the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. The intelligence community's strategy calls for the removal of institutional and technical barriers to information sharing in order to give the federal government an advantage in making critical decisions to help keep the nation safe. Steps are already being taken to meet information-sharing goals. For example, the U.S. Intelligence Community 500 Day Plan for Integration and Collaboration details ongoing initiatives to achieve the strategy's aims. Future measures in this area will be coordinated with a number of related federal programs.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) have announced the final rule for the land and sea portion of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), a core 9/11 Commission recommendation. The WHTI final rule requires travelers to present a passport or other approved secure document denoting citizenship and identity for all land and sea travel into the United States. WHTI establishes document requirements for travelers entering the United States who were previously exempt, including citizens of the United States, Canada, and Bermuda. These document requirements will be effective June 1, 2009. DHS is publishing the WHTI land and sea final rule more than a year in advance of its implementation to give the public ample notice and time to obtain the WHTI-compliant documents they will need to enter or re-enter the United States on or after June 1, 2009. Many cross-border travelers already have WHTI-compliant documents such as a Passport or a Trusted Traveler Card (NEXUS, SENTRI, and FAST), or a Washington State EDL. The Department of State is already accepting applications for the new Passport Cards and additional states and Canadian provinces will be issuing EDLs in the next several months—all of which are options specifically designed for land and sea border use.

With funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Technology Integration Scholarships will be provided for selected practitioners to attend the triennial meeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS), which will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 21-26, 2008. Interested applicants should apply for the scholarship by April 15, 2008. According to its Constitution, the IAFS organizes a World Meeting every three years. Since its inauguration 51 years ago, a total of 17 Triennial Meetings have been organized in major cities around the world. The meeting planned for 2008 is only the fourth meeting to be held in the United States, representing an extraordinary opportunity for members of the forensics community in the United States to explore and exchange scientific and technical information. The BJA scholarships to the 2008 IAFS meeting are being provided through the National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC) with funding from BJA. Selected attendees will be given the opportunity to explore new technologies presented at oral presentations, poster presentations, or technology demonstrations in the exposition hall at the IAFS meeting. These attendees are obligated to attend each day during which scientific presentations are scheduled and to share new technology information with the broader community by writing a Technology Synopsis report of their observations. These reports will be compiled by the NFSTC and may be published at a later date.

The Bush administration has revised its blueprint for dealing with natural and man-made disasters, with a focus on gaps identified by state and local emergency managers and other stakeholders outside the federal government. The National Response Framework, designed to replace the 2004 National Response Plan, became official March 22, 2008. The framework includes instructions for local, state, and federal authorities; the private sector; and nongovernmental organizations. Officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) say they are confident that the framework is an improvement over the 2004 plan, which critics say was too complicated and did not focus enough on the role of nonfederal organizations in disaster response. The new document is broader in scope, partly because of lessons learned from using the earlier plan and the response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, DHS officials said. It was released in draft form two months ago, and lawmakers, nongovernmental organizations, and state-level emergency managers have welcomed it as a step forward.

The latest threat connected to identity theft includes your home. A story on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Web site describes the process by which criminals steal someone's identity, create fake identification documents, purchase forms from the local office supply store that transfer property, and file these deeds with the proper authorities, thereby stealing your house and then profiting from its sale. While this crime is currently not very easy to prevent, the FBI offers the following suggestions to protect your home: If you receive a payment book or information from a mortgage company that is not yours, whether your name is on the envelope or not, do not just throw it away. Open it, figure out what it says, and follow up with the company that sent it. From time to time, it is also a good idea to check all information pertaining to your house through your county's deeds office. If you see any paperwork that you do not recognize or any signature that is not yours, look into it. House-stealing is uncommon at this point, but the FBI is keeping an eye out for any major cases or developing trends. Please contact the FBI or your local police if you think you have been victimized.

Overlapping identity management systems can be as difficult for users—-and ultimately to systems administrators—-as multiple passwords. Agencies that maintain multiple user repositories or whose processes cross more than one security domain should consider implementing federated identity management to reduce administrative overhead and costs while increasing security and simplifying the user’s experience. The primary objective of federated identity management is to give authorized users the ability to securely access applications or services both in their own organization and in other domains without the need for redundant user administration in all the domains involved. Adoption of federated identity management is expected to increase dramatically this year and next as organizations attempt to improve communication with business partners, enhance customer service, better integrate outsourced services, and adopt more open, standards-based technologies. In addition to the benefits obtained through adoption of federated identity management, this article also expands upon current obstacles, how federated identity management works, cross-domain challenges, and a policy-based approach.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott joined local leaders and law enforcement officials for the opening of the Texas Cyber Security Research and Training Institute at the University of Texas at Tyler. In collaboration with Mississippi State University's renowned Center for Computer Security Research, the Texas Cyber Security Research and Training Institute will provide data security and technology-based emergency preparedness training to law enforcement personnel. The second-in-the-nation research and training institute will help ensure Texas stays at the forefront of the nation's battle against cyber crime. The UT Tyler initiative includes the Texas First-Responder Cyber Security Training (TxFRST) Program, which will provide basic computer forensics training that is critical to child pornography, identity theft, credit card fraud, and terrorism investigations. TxFRST training will be provided at no cost to law enforcement personnel. The institute is working cooperatively with the Office of the Attorney General, the University of Texas at Tyler Police Department, Tyler Police Department, Smith County Sheriff's Department, and Mississippi State University in the federally-funded venture.

More than 900 local, state, and federal law enforcement and homeland security officials attended the Second Annual National Fusion Center Conference in San Francisco, California, to further the U.S. government's plans to create a seamless network of these centers. The second annual conference was jointly sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE), and the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global). Participants discussed how to best incorporate fusion centers at the state level and in major urban areas into national plans to improve the sharing of information related to terrorism--a key goal of a strategy that President George W. Bush released in October 2007. After the 9/11 attacks, states and various U.S. localities established information fusion centers to coordinate the gathering, analysis, and sharing of homeland security, terrorism, and law enforcement intelligence. Today, there are more than 50 operational centers in 46 states.

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has created an Identity Theft Unit to further assist identity theft victims and to provide additional resources to local law enforcement authorities that investigate and prosecute the crime. Security breaches and increased consumer complaints highlighted the need for a specialized unit. In 2007, there were 328 security breaches nationwide in the private sector according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse—nearly one per day. At least 23 of those breaches involved personal information of Indiana residents. The ID Theft Unit is a part of the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General's Office and is staffed by a team of attorneys, investigators, and support staff. The unit will actively investigate the alleged fraud and provide hands-on assistance to consumers to help them address and correct the problems caused by the identity theft. It will offer assistance, expertise, and resources to local law enforcement and prosecutors in any criminal prosecution efforts that may result.

Officials from the United States and Germany today initialed a bilateral agreement related to sharing access to biometric data and spontaneous sharing of data about known and suspected terrorists. At a bilateral ceremony in Berlin, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff joined the German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries in initialing the agreement. The agreement provides the countries mutual access to fingerprint databases for use in criminal investigations and prosecutions. It also sets forth procedures for obtaining evidence through lawful processes while ensuring that personal data is appropriately protected. The agreement additionally provides a mechanism for the United States and Germany to share information about known and suspected terrorists, allowing the two countries to more readily assist one another in preventing serious threats to public security, including terrorist entry into either country.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) deployed the final two tsunami detection buoys in the South Pacific this week, completing the buoy network and bolstering the U.S. tsunami warning system. This vast network of 39 stations provides coastal communities in the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico with faster and more accurate tsunami warnings. These final two deep-ocean assessment and reporting of tsunami (DART) stations deployed off the Solomon Islands will give NOAA forecasters real-time data about tsunamis that could potentially impact the U.S. Pacific coast, Hawaii, and U.S. Pacific territories. Tsunami sensors are now positioned between Hawaii and every seismic zone that could generate a tsunami that would impact the state and beyond, including the U.S. West Coast. Buoys already in the Western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean have been keeping watch over the U.S East and Gulf coasts.

The annual 2008 Public Technology Institute (PTI) Technology Leadership Conference and Exposition will be held in Miami, Florida, May 6–8, 2008. This year's theme is Local Government Technology 2.0: The Next Generation of Service Delivery. The conference will examine emerging tools and solutions that governments are using to connect the different constituencies we serve—citizens, businesses, and other agencies. Whether it is virtual tools to encourage networking and civic engagement, the next generation of customer-centric information technology (IT) and Web applications, or technologies that promote a safer and healthier environment, local government leaders are looking at the impact these tools can have in reaching a diverse community. For more information on this conference, please visit the conference Web site or contact Brandi Riley via email at memservices@pti.org.

A wireless intrusion prevention and performance management (WIPPM) solution provider recently issued findings from a study that assessed information security risk exposure of laptop users at 14 airports in the United States, Canada, and Asia. The company set out to understand the risks to business travelers and their corporate networks of data leakage as they send sensitive information using unsecured airport wireless access points. The study's results were surprising regarding the security posture of private Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks in these airports, as well as the rapid spread of viral Wi-Fi networks. One finding was that some ticketing systems, baggage systems, shops, and restaurants were using open or poorly secured wireless networks. The consequences of this lack of security could result in disruption of baggage or passenger ticketing systems. The study also discovered that 10 percent of the laptops detected during the scans were infected with a viral Wi-Fi network, making the users vulnerable to data leakage and identity theft.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has released internal guidelines for implementing the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM). The objective of the document titled ''U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) - Implementation Guidance for NIEM-Conformant Exchanges,'' is to provide high level guidance to program managers and architects within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and its component agencies on implementing NIEM-conformant information exchanges and to further the department's information sharing strategy. NIEM is a partnership of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is designed to develop, disseminate, and support enterprise-wide information exchange standards and processes that can enable jurisdictions to effectively share critical information in emergency situations, as well as support the day-to-day operations of agencies throughout the nation. NIEM builds on the demonstrated success of the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM).

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Law Enforcement Information Management (LEIM) Section will hold its 32nd Annual Conference at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, May 6-10, 2008. Proposed topics to be discussed include: System Integration, Strategic Planning, Mobile Computing, Terrorism and Technology, and IT Standards. The focus of the conference will be enhancing law enforcement efficiency and effectiveness with technology. Panels of subject matter experts from around the region and world will share best practices and lessons learned in the application of technology to fight crime and improve department efficiency. For more information on the IACP LEIM 32nd Annual Conference, please contact Meghann Tracy at tracy@theiacp.org.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is conducting the largest cyber security exercise ever organized. Cyber Storm II is being held on March 10-14, 2008, in Washington, DC, and brings together participants from local, state, and federal governments, the private sector, and the international community. Cyber Storm II is the second in a series of congressionally-mandated exercises that will examine the nation's cyber security preparedness and response capabilities. The exercise will simulate a coordinated cyber attack on information technology, communications, chemical, and transportation systems and assets. Cyber Storm II will include 18 federal departments and agencies, nine states, five countries, and more than 40 private sector companies. For more information on Cyber Storm II, visit: http://www.dhs.gov/xprepresp/training/gc_1204738275985.shtm.

The New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center (ROIC) or ‘‘the Rock,’’ as it is called by people who work there, is a fusion center—a new type of facility being created in states and major urban areas, often with federal grant assistance, to improve threat information sharing and coordination with federal authorities. Rich Kelly, who recently retired from a top position at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Newark Field Office, will head the ROIC and has experience in breaking down barriers to information sharing. ‘‘We are all on Team America,’’ Kelly said during a recent interview in the 55,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art ROIC at state police headquarters in West Trenton. Team America describes the culture Kelly and his deputies want to create at the center, which houses local and federal law enforcement officials from various New Jersey state agencies; the Philadelphia Police Department; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS); the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and the FBI. Although counterterrorism was once the primary rationale for creating fusion centers, most of them now accept responsibility for responding to all threats. Fusion centers play an increasingly prominent role in local law enforcement and are communication hubs for federal, state, and local authorities. At the ROIC, analysts from the agencies described above start each day by convening what officials call ‘‘the 10 a.m. huddle’’ in which they share current threat information from each of their organizations. Multiple databases from different agencies bring gigabytes of law enforcement and intelligence information into the fusion center. The daily meeting is crucial for connecting the dots and interpreting that data. Officials involved in the fusion center program say they obey state and federal criminal record-sharing laws and also aim to protect individuals’ privacy and civil liberties through privacy policies that each fusion center has written or is in the process of completing soon.

The San Diego Harbor Police Department (San Diego Harbor PD) awarded a contract to Bio-Key International to deploy the company's automated vehicle location (AVL) capability in its patrol vehicles. San Diego Harbor PD has primary public safety and homeland security responsibility within the San Diego Unified Port District, which includes cargo and cruise ship terminals and the San Diego International Airport, as well as law enforcement and marine firefighting in San Diego Bay. Under the new contract, AVL is now integrated with BIO-Key's MobileCop mobile data software, allowing vehicle location data to be automatically transmitted to San Diego Harbor PD's Homeland Security geographic information system (GIS). Thomas Lockwood of the San Diego Port Information Technology Department says they are using MobileCop to provide their GIS system with patrol vehicle locations, encrypt mobile communications, and deliver their GIS application to vehicles out in the field. ''The use of MobileCop and AVL to visually map the location of patrol vehicles in relation to a call for service or other emergency improves situational awareness across the department,'' explained Patrol Sergeant Eric Womack. ''The enhanced safety of our officers in an emergency is the biggest value. Now everyone—from the officer in the car to the dispatcher and commander at headquarters—has the same information on the status and location of every unit available to respond to a call or provide backup.'' MobileCop's silent, secure messaging also enables dispatchers to alert or send units to any critical activity in their sector without the risk of voice radio transmission interception.

On the eve of the seventh anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake, Mayor Greg Nickels today opened Seattle, Washington's new state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center (EOC), a high-tech nerve center that will coordinate the city's response to disasters and other major events. The new EOC has state-of-the-art technology and space to better allow the city to facilitate emergency responses and keep the public informed. It is designed to withstand major earthquakes, with a seismic standard 50 percent higher than most buildings. The EOC is part of the new headquarters fire station that will open later this spring. The new EOC will allow the city to collaborate with regional, state, and national operations centers through a host of systems and back-up systems, including the Internet, video-teleconferencing, satellite phones, 800 megahertz (MHz) radio, short-wave/amateur radio, and local, state, and national warning/notification radios. The new EOC can accommodate 150-plus emergency responders from city departments and key partners, such as hospitals, schools and universities, businesses, and nonprofit social service agencies.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today the selection of 11 universities to serve as important partners for conducting multi-disciplinary research and creating innovative learning environments for critical homeland security missions. These universities will partner to lead one of five new Centers of Excellence and receive a multi-year grant of up to $2 million per year, over a period of four to six years. The five new Centers of Excellence, located across the country, will study border security and immigration; explosives detection, mitigation, and response; maritime, island and port security; natural disasters, coastal infrastructure, and emergency management; and transportation security. The Centers of Excellence program is managed by the Science and Technology Directorate's Office of University Programs. The program takes advantage of the unsurpassed research capabilities and intellectual capital of U.S. colleges and universities to fill knowledge and technology gaps for the department. By congressional authorization, each center will be responsible for conducting multidisciplinary research and developing education initiatives in areas important for homeland security. For more information about University Programs and current Centers of Excellence, visit www.dhs.gov/universityprograms.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) has selected a new Vice Chairman—Mr. Carl Wicklund of the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA). Mr. Wicklund has been a member of the Global Advisory Committee (GAC) for many years serving in a number of different capacities including: a member of the Executive Steering Committee; Chairman of the Privacy and Information Quality Working Group; and as a member of the Intelligence Working Group/Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council. He is the sole remaining inaugural member of the GAC since his appointment by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. His efforts to bring probation and parole issues to the attention of the Global community are vital to continued federal support for state public safety information sharing initiatives. GAC is a federal advisory committee to the U.S. Attorney General on justice-related information sharing issues. GAC's mission is to act as the focal point for justice information systems integration activities. Representing more than 30 independent organizations, GAC membership spans the spectrum of justice- and public safety-interested constituencies.

Every household in England and Wales will be given access to a mobile phone number to call new neighborhood police teams. Each home will also get an e-mail address for the officer responsible for their street, and neighborhood police chiefs will have to hold regular public meetings under the plans to be rolled out by April. The £325 million-a-year scheme, one of the United Kingdom's biggest shifts from centralized policing, has been drawn up by the Prime Minister and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. Under the system, trialed in Lambeth, South London, each council ward will have its own neighborhood policing team made up of police and community support officers. The trial has helped contribute to a 0.9 percent overall reduction in crime in the area. A new Web site allowing the public to get the names and numbers of their local team will be launched at the end of March.

Chicago, Illinois' new Crime Prevention Information Center (CPIC) is one of more than 40 ''fusion'' centers that state and local law enforcement launched in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The ultimate goal of a fusion center is to prevent terrorist attacks and to respond to natural disasters instantaneously should they occur. But as a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report noted, there is no one model for how a center should be organized. Many fusion centers initially had the singular goal of combating counterterrorism but most have moved toward broader all-crimes and all-hazards approaches. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Fusion Center Guidelines paper, ''data fusion involves the exchange of information from different sources—including law enforcement, public safety, and the private sector—and, with analysis, can result in meaningful and actionable intelligence and information. The fusion process turns this information and intelligence into actionable knowledge.'' In the case of the CPIC, this type of information is being automated and delivered to police officers in the field, equipping them with information for their investigations that use to be provided to them sometimes a day later after their return to the police station. This article also details the CPIC's video capabilities while addressing privacy concerns that accompany fusion centers and the policies in place to assure the protection of individuals' privacy rights and civil liberties.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS) plans to launch the first increment of its National Data Exchange (N-DEx) law enforcement information sharing system on March 19, 2008, according to program manager Kevin Reid. The first increment of the system will include the features that CJIS's user community specified as the most urgently needed capabilities, including the ability to capture incident and case reporting data and to conduct ''entity resolution'' on the information. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies use the term ''entity resolution'' to describe the process by which they determine whether an individual who may have names with variant spellings, or street names and aliases, is in fact the same person. Entity resolution problems surface conspicuously in terrorist watch lists. A lesser-known arena that poses problems for entity resolution is the task of figuring out the real identity of people who are incarcerated. Prisoners have many reasons for attempting to conceal their true identities and thousands of them succeed in doing so, according to law enforcement IT specialists. The entity resolution process also resolves uncertainties regarding variant ways of describing addresses and similar crime-related concepts such as dates, weapons, vehicles, drugs, prisons, and so forth. It relies on methods such as fuzzy logic and various ways of resolving ambiguities about names, including the decades-old Soundex approach and much more modern computational linguistics algorithms used to ferret out the discriminators that various cultures embed in names. Reid said N-DEx's first increment would provide service to some 50,000 users. The second and third increments, due in early 2009 and early 2010, will support about 100,000 and 200,000 users respectively, he added.

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell has announced that $3.5 million in state funding to improve Connecticut State Police communications and equip troopers' vehicles with additional technology is expected to gain approval when the state Bond Commission meets February 29, 2008. The funding includes $2 million for communications improvements, including equipping a telecommunications tower in Haddam. An additional $1.5 million is dedicated to adding 100 in-car digital camera systems, 75 LCD emergency light bars, and 217 mobile data terminals to replace outdated computers. In September, Governor Rell announced that Connecticut was the first state in the nation to connect all of its first responders—local and state police, fire departments, and other agencies—to a common radio channel. Previously, a Connecticut police officer in pursuit of a suspect across town borders had limited ability—and in many cases no ability—to communicate with other responding agencies. This new emergency radio network provides law enforcement officers moving between towns or regions to communicate with other agencies, state police, and dispatch centers. The technology, called Cross Band, plugs into existing police radio systems and keeps portable radios synchronized.

The Federal 100 Awards were created nearly 20 years ago to honor the deciders, influencers, leaders, thinkers, and difference-makers who have had a significant impact in the government's use of information technology. Each year 100 people are recognized for their contributions to the federal information technology market and the theme for this year's Federal 100 Awards is ''Agents of Change.'' Two of the 2008 award winners are significant contributors to the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) and the National information Exchange Model (NIEM) initiative. Thomas O'Reilly of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Alan Harbitter of Nortel Government Solutions have both made significant contributions to these initiatives helping to increase both justice and cross-domain information exchange. Their dedication, leadership, and expertise in the field of information sharing have helped strengthen the safety and security of the United States.

With support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), the Law Enforcement Information Technology Standards Council (LEITSC) is pleased to announce the publication of ten Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) for Computer Aided Dispatch Systems and Records Management Systems using the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) version 2.0. An IEPD is a collection of artifacts that describe the structure and content of an information exchange. It describes data involved in an exchange but does not specify other interface layers (such as web services). IEPDs are typically created using the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM) and/or NIEM data models. All of the IEPDs are currently available for download on www.leitsc.org. [Related Article].

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Law Enforcement Information Management (LEIM) Section will hold its 32nd Annual Conference at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 6-10, 2008. Proposed topics to be discussed include System Integration, Strategic Planning, Mobile Computing, Terrorism and Technology, and IT Standards. The focus of the conference will be enhancing law enforcement efficiency and effectiveness with technology. Panels of subject-matter experts from around the region and world will share best practices and lessons learned in the application of technology to fight crime and improve department efficiency. For more information or questions on the IACP LEIM 32nd Annual Conference, please contact Meghann Tracy at tracy@theiacp.org.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is consolidating more than 100 aging Web portals, including the sensitive but unclassified (SBU) network that local and state authorities use to share information related to terrorism. Officials said they hope to merge the portals into one enterprise collaboration and SBU portal environment, which will improve the department's ability to share information. The new environment will replace the existing SBU Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) platform, which many local and state intelligence fusion centers and first responders use to share information with DHS. The next generation of HSIN will first be deployed to the most critical users and then DHS will begin to consolidate the existing portals onto the new environment.

Faced with a funding shortage to revamp outdated communications equipment and update four disparate dispatch facilities in Indiana, officials opted to consolidate the centers into one technologically advanced structure. The result was a new communications center with state-of-the-art equipment that dispatches for police, fire, and emergency medical in Hendricks, Avon, Brownsburg, Danville, and Plainfield counties. ''In the past, a 911 call might get transferred two or three times before it got to the right place,'' said Larry Brinker, executive director of the new Hendricks County Communications Center. ''Now, all 911 calls come to one location, and the call-taker enters the information into the computer.'' Having all the dispatchers in one building meant fewer dispatchers and more efficient personnel.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it has begun collecting additional fingerprints from international visitors arriving at Chicago (Illinois) O'Hare International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (Georgia) International, and George Bush Houston (Texas) Intercontinental Airports. The change is part of the department's upgrade from two- to 10-fingerprint collection to enhance security and facilitate legitimate travel by more accurately and efficiently establishing and verifying visitors' identities.

Patrol officers for the Neosho, Missouri, Police Department have been using MobileCop, a wireless law enforcement solution that allows officers to query state and federal databases regarding driver and vehicle information subsequent to a vehicle stop. This system has been used since 1999 and recently, the Neosho Police Department integrated APS QuickTicket software with the MobileCop system. The data that is retrieved with MobileCop query will be automatically populated into the forms fields on the e-citations system. Then the system will generate a hard copy ticket for the violator and transfer the information electronically to be uploaded to police and court databases. Previously, officers had to manually transcribe driver and vehicle registration information from the MobileCop laptop screen in their patrol cars onto hard copy traffic warning and citation forms. This system is anticipated to streamline officer data entry and improve accuracy.

Manchester Airport in the United Kingdom is launching that nation's first iris recognition access-control system for airport employees. The iris system is replacing identification checks made by guards at checkpoints to limit access to secure areas. Nearly 25,000 airport employees will use iris scanners to gain entry through gates into restricted zones. The system is being installed by the U.K.'s Department for Transport, Manchester Airport, and biometric identity-management consultancy Human Recognition Systems. The immigration control section at Manchester Airport has used iris scanning since 2006. Prescreened passengers receive expedited passage through immigration controls if they register their iris biometrics in advance, and then screen their irises at the airports.

A new American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) International standard for urban search and rescue robots and components tackles humble logistics problems that, left unsolved, could hamper the use of life-saving robots in major disasters. The advance, formally agreed to recently, is one result of a three-year National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) coordinated effort, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, to develop urban search and rescue robot consensus standards. The new standard details specific ways to describe requirements for the storage, shipment, and deployment of urban search and rescue robots. Sensor-laden robots, ranging from ball-shaped survey devices that can be thrown into disaster sites to radio-operated crawlers capable of exploring ruins and even rotary-winged aerial reconnaissance drones, are recognized as holding tremendous potential. The new voluntary standard reflects a priority expressed in a series of NIST-coordinated workshops to accelerate the development and deployment of such urban search and rescue robots and components. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional task force members and other first responders, technology developers, and robot vendors said that access to standardized information concerning urban search and rescue robot logistics attributes would help response team managers integrate the devices into their operations. [Related Article.]

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) invites you to join colleagues from your region to learn about the latest information on key issues in law enforcement and criminal justice at BJA's 2008 Regional Training Series. The South Region Conference will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 11-13, 2008. The training promises to provide participants with new information, stimulate discussion, and offer best practices and solutions to emerging and chronic crime concerns. Workshops planned for this regional training include: strategic planning; simplifying grants management; intelligence-led policing and more. The deadline for all registrations for this regional training event is February 22, 2008. Those who are interested in participating in this event can register on the regional training Web site http://www.bjaregionalmeetings.com/.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released for the first time a set of standards for how local, state, and federal law enforcement officials should share information on suspicious activity with potential links to terrorism. The Common Terrorism Information Sharing Standards place local and state intelligence fusion centers at the center of how information on perceived terrorist threats or tips flows among all departments and agencies that use terrorism or homeland security information. The standards for suspicious-activity reporting (SAR) released by ODNI’s Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE) are based on National Information Exchange Model standards and are effective immediately for all entities working with PM-ISE systems. The sharing of personal information and law enforcement is governed by state and municipal privacy laws, the federal Privacy Act, criminal intelligence law, and the E-Government Act. ISE plans to make certain aspects of SAR reports anonymous to mitigate privacy issues. The Homeland Security Department is requiring local and state fusion centers that do not have a privacy policy to complete them shortly. PM-ISE says that the ISE-SAR guidelines comply with privacy laws regarding the sharing of personal information among agencies. Furthermore, the ISE Shared Space that will be used to facilitate the information flow is to be used only for terrorism-related information, and the program is not meant to affect existing interactions among local, state, and federal officials, including the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

In just 13 months, television as many people know it will be going away. The programming will be available, just not in the format that has been providing viewers with their signals for more than 60 years. Broadcasters must switch from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting no later than February 17, 2009. This means that any TV that receives exclusively ''over-the-air'' programming that does not have a digital tuner (virtually all sets manufactured more than a few years ago) will go dark at midnight on that date. Homes that have cable or satellite service should not be affected by the switch. County officials are likely to be in the crosshairs of public anger unless the switch is widely publicized to their citizens. TV sets that are not connected to cable or satellite, or that do not have a built-in digital tuner (sets built after 2006 generally have such a tuner), will need a converter box to continue receiving broadcast television signals after the transition occurs. The digital television transition is necessary to provide more public safety radio frequencies for America's first responders.

In remarks given to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Chet Lunner, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), emphasized how critical DHS agents are to the success of fusion centers the department is setting up nationwide to coordinate with local law enforcement and public health workers. Currently, there are 22 DHS agents assigned to 20 fusion centers throughout the United States, and DHS expects to add 13 more this year. Lunner added that agents assigned to fusion centers have to communicate intelligence produced on a national level and help coordinate local information and responses, in addition to training local law enforcement and public health personnel. Thus, these agents must be able to adapt to the needs of the communities to which they are assigned.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is reminding travelers that beginning January 31, 2008, border crossers will be asked to present documents denoting citizenship and identity when entering the United States through land and sea ports of entry. This change primarily affects United States and Canadian citizens, who have previously been permitted entry by oral declaration alone. Thursday marks the transition toward standard and consistent documents for all travelers entering the country. It is also the start of a robust and concerted public education campaign, intended to inform travelers of document requirements which will be implemented next year. In order to further secure U.S. borders against illegal entry, the United States will no longer be able to admit travelers based on nothing more than a person's oral assertion of citizenship. During October to December 2007 alone, CBP officers reported 1,517 cases of individuals falsely claiming to be U.S. citizens.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is embarking on a $1 billion project to build the world's largest computer database of biometrics to give the U.S. government more ways to identify people in the United States and abroad. The FBI, the main investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), has started compiling digital images of faces, fingerprints, and palm patterns in its systems, the paper said. In January, the agency—which focuses on violations of federal law, espionage by foreigners, and terrorist activities—expects to award a 10-year contract to expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. At an employer's request, the FBI will also retain the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks. If successful, the system planned by the FBI, called Next Generation Identification, will collect a wide variety of biometric information in one place for identification and forensic purposes.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director Michael J. Sullivan and Director Arthur Doty of the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) today announced plans to add additional staff members, including 35 special agents and 15 industry operations investigators to the southwest border and deploy eTrace technology in nine U.S. consulates in Mexico in an effort to stem the illegal flow of firearms to Mexico as part of Project Gunrunner. Furthermore, three additional ATF intelligence research specialists and one investigative analyst will be assigned to EPIC and an intelligence research specialist will be hired for each ATF field division on the U.S.-Mexico border to focus exclusively on firearms trafficking to Mexico. The expansion of enforcement and strategic efforts on the U.S.-Mexico border complement Project Gunrunner, ATF's southwest border initiative to deprive drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) of firearms and reduce firearms-related violence on both sides of the border. Firearms tracing, using the eTrace technology, allows law enforcement agencies to identify trafficking trends of DTOs and other criminal organizations funneling guns into Mexico from the United States. In addition, eTrace assists criminal investigators to develop investigative leads in order to put firearms traffickers and straw purchasers (people who knowingly purchase guns for prohibited persons) behind bars before they cross the border.

As reported on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Web site, in the first six months of 2007, crime rates dropped for the first time in two years. Nationwide, violent crime fell 1.8 percent and property crime fell 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year. The figures—including breakdowns for larger cities, regions, and the nation—are available in the Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report. Some examples of the declines observed are violent crime declining in all four regions and in each of the four offense categories. Nationally, murder and non-negligent manslaughter dropped 1.1 percent, forcible rape 6.1 percent, robbery 1.2 percent, and aggravated assault 1.7 percent. There were also some increases in categories such as burglary offenses, which increased 3.5 percent in cities with a million or more residents. The in-depth statistics were compiled by the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division of the FBI in West Virginia, in close concert with city, county, and state law enforcement around the country. The report includes data from 11,673 law enforcement agencies nationwide.

With funding from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, released version 4.0 of the Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM) Tool in September 2007. In the three months following the release, SEARCH certified over 100 users on the new version, including 47 users who had not used prior versions of JIEM. The JIEM methodology shows practitioners how to establish a solid foundation for their information sharing projects by modeling exchange requirements—the who, what, when, and why of information exchange. Practitioners apply the methodology by using the JIEM Tool and JIEM reference models, both of which allow for efficient modeling of complex requirements while aligning models with national best practices. SEARCH is already working to incorporate additional functionality and features into the Tool, and plans to release two new versions in 2008. These new versions will tighten integration with the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), improve data modeling capabilities, align with service-oriented architecture, and help capture privacy requirements. SEARCH is also working on a new reference model focused on state/local/tribal information exchanges with Fusion Centers.

At the state's first annual Crime Victims' Rights and Compliance Conference, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley announced the awarding of the state’s first ever law enforcement technology grants, which have been granted to 19 jurisdictions, as well as Maryland State Police and other statewide agencies. The grants were allocated from federal law enforcement funding from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) through the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP). The $1.3 million awarded in Law Enforcement Technology grants target technology systems, including electronic ticketing; improvements to in-car computer systems; software and hardware; computer-aided dispatch (CAD)/records management systems (RMS) for police; license plate recognition software; network improvements to Maryland State Police (MSP) gun licensing; and registration database so the information is more easily accessible to all law enforcement; closed circuit television (CCTV) for gang and crime surveillance; and intelligence sharing technology.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that enrollment in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program will begin at ten more locations in the coming weeks which include Victoria, Texas; Kahului, Hawaii; Portland, Oregon; Bourne, Massachusetts; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Texas City, Texas; Kauai, Hawaii; Salisbury, Maryland; and Toledo, Ohio. This program ensures that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a known security threat. TWIC enrollment began October 16, 2007, at the Port of Wilmington, Delaware. The addition of these ten locations will bring the number of fixed enrollment centers open for enrollment to 59. Ultimately, the program will be rolled out to 147 fixed enrollment sites and will vet more than 1 million workers through 2008. More information on the TWIC program is available at www.tsa.gov/twic, and additional information on port security is available at the U.S. Coast Guard's Homeport site at http://homeport.uscg.mil by selecting the Maritime Security link.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a final rule establishing minimum security standards for state-issued drivers' licenses and identification cards. The rule sets uniform standards that enhance the integrity and reliability of drivers' licenses and identification cards, strengthen issuance capabilities, and increase security at drivers' license and identification card production facilities. The final rule also dramatically reduces state implementation costs by roughly 73 percent. REAL ID will address document fraud by setting specific requirements that states must adopt for compliance to include: (1) information and security features that must be incorporated into each card; (2) proof of the identity and U.S. citizenship or legal status of an applicant; (3) verification of the source documents provided by an applicant; and (4) security standards for the offices that issue licenses and identification cards. The first deadline for compliance with REAL ID is December 31, 2009. By then, states must upgrade the security of their license systems to include a check for lawful status of all applicants and to ensure that illegal aliens cannot obtain REAL ID licenses. Some states are expected to be compliant well before that time. Compliance will be needed for access into a federal facility, boarding commercial aircraft, and entering nuclear power plants. Federal agencies will continue to accept licenses for official purposes from residents of states that comply with the law. For more information, this final rule is currently available at www.dhs.gov and will soon be published in the Federal Register.

The diverse world of cyber crime has quickly evolved promoting the objectives of organized crime organizations, terror groups, sexual predators, and white collar offenders. The potential for high-tech criminal activity has quickly become vast and borderless. The National Symposium on Cyber Crime is an innovative and essential three and one-half day program that will bring together nationally recognized experts in the fields of online addiction/psychological disorders, academic research, digital evidence identification, and computer forensics, as they relate to pretrial, probation, and supervised release (parole). The symposium will be held February 11–14, 2008, in Long Beach, California. Registration information can be found on the symposium Web site. If you have questions regarding the conference, contact Senior U.S. Pretrial Services Officer Roger Pimentel at 213-894-8830.

Missouri will deploy a software suite from Knowledge Computing Corporation that will foster better information sharing and collaboration among local and state law enforcement. The state will use Coplink crime analysis tools, which provide decision support for rapidly identifying criminal suspects, relationships, and patterns to solve crimes and thwart terrorism. Funding for the project, known as Missouri Data Exchange (MoDex), was made possible by a unique partnership between local and state law enforcement, which together, pooled federal funding to maximize the initiative's reach, effectiveness, and return on investment. Coplink allows vast quantities of structured and seemingly unrelated data—- including data stored in incompatible databases and records management systems—- to be securely organized, consolidated, and quickly analyzed over a secure intranet-based platform. The software includes sophisticated analytics and visualization tools to build institutional memory. Coplink will allow the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) and other agencies to instantly cross-reference and analyze law enforcement records systems statewide. MIAC, launched in 2005, collects, evaluates, analyzes, and disseminates information to agencies tasked with Homeland Security responsibilities. [Related Article]

The United Kingdom's government has begun a period of consultation on data sharing by both public and private sector bodies as part of a far-reaching review that was first announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in October 2007. The consultation period will run until February 15, 2008, and is aimed primarily at experts and practitioners in the field of data sharing and data protection, but the general public may also submit their feedback. The review is being led by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas and the director of the Welcome Trust, Dr. Mark Walport. Among other issues, they are charged with considering whether there should be any changes to the way the Data Protection Act currently operates and how proposed changes should be implemented. In addition, the Ministry of Justice said the review will make recommendations about the powers and sanctions available both to the Information Commissioner's Office and the courts in the various pieces of legislation that govern information sharing and data protection. The review team will also look at how data sharing policy can be developed to ensure transparency, scrutiny, and accountability.

Seamless information sharing among criminal justice agencies at all levels of government is of the utmost importance. Those intimately involved with information sharing initiatives understand the compelling need for a seamless solution and the complexity of accomplishing such a feat, while others may assume that such communication already happens with ease. This article will attempt to further educate readers while exploring the development of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) as a logical next step in successful and cost effective information sharing. It will outline what NIEM can provide to law enforcement managers facing the growing demands and expectations for information sharing and will explain what resources are available now to assist police executives.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Justice Management Division, awarded a $12.5 million contract to CACI International Inc. to continue providing program management support for the Joint Automated Booking System (JABS). Under the five year contract CACI will provide management and technical services to help DOJ organize and share critical data to the investigation and prosecution of criminal violations of U.S. laws. The JABS program supports booking and arrest activities on behalf of DOJ and its components. It helps capture, store, print, and transmit fingerprint, photographic, and biographical data to identify individuals and provide criminal history information. JABS data is stored in a central database where it is accessible for querying by local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement for crime investigations. Information sharing goals are being implemented across all levels of law enforcement via standards defined within the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM). The CACI team is working with the DOJ's Chief Information Officer to deploy NIEM standards in JABS under the framework of a strategic data sharing program called ''OneDOJ.''

According to the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) administrators, systems that deploy NIEM will now be able to use a classification schema which, until now, was unavailable for public use. Finalized in 2004, the Intelligence Community Information Security Marking (IC-ISM) offered a set of tags that could be used to mark sensitive documents with classification levels and conditions. However, the Director of National Intelligence restricted use of the tags for official use only (FOUO). As such the tags could could not be incorporated into NIEM, which is a publicly available schema. Recently, however, the Director of National Intelligence lifted the FOUO status requirement (though IC-ISM's Data Element Dictionary and Implementation Guide will remain FOUO), and as a result, the IC-ISM elements and attributes can now be utilized by using NIEM. For NIEM version 2.0, users are encouraged to use a metadata container in order to incorporate IC-ISM. Future versions of NIEM will incorporate IC-ISM directly into its own schema. A partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the NIEM initiative is designed to develop, disseminate, and support enterprise-wide information exchange standards and processes that can enable jurisdictions to effectively share critical information in emergency situations, as well as support the day-to-day operations of agencies throughout the nation.

Each year the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center's (NLECTC) Rocky Mountain Regional Center sponsors a conference and exhibition to present technology information to community corrections professionals. The goal of the conference is to spotlight the innovative use of technology in community corrections and to debut technologies on the horizon that may enhance an agency's mission performance. This year's conference will be held June 9-11, 2008, in Denver, Colorado, at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center. For more information on the 2008 Innovative Technologies for Community Corrections Conference, including presenter information for those interested in delivering a presentation at the conference, please visit the Justice Technology Information Network Web site at http://www.justnet.org/training/commcorr.html.

Budget cuts to criminal justice programs are anticipated to occur nationwide due to Congress passing the Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) Omnibus Appropriations bill. The bill includes a $350 million, or 67 percent, cut in the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. The JAG program funds multi-jurisdictional drug and gang task forces, substance abuse prevention and treatment, crime victims support programs, courts, justice information sharing initiatives, sex offender management, mental health treatment programs, community corrections, rehabilitation, offender reentry, and juvenile justice programs. The JAG program is a highly successful program that enjoys broad support within the criminal justice community. Local, state, and tribal jurisdictions depend on this program to provide critical funds used to fight violence and drugs and to support crime victims. Based in Washington, DC, the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) represents local, state, and tribal governments on crime control and public safety issues. For more information on NCJA and the FY08 Omnibus Appropriations bill, please visit the NCJA Web site.

(NextGov.com) – Article discusses testimony from state, local, and tribal partners regarding the federal government’s ability to share information and intelligence.

(Security Management) – Article discusses testimony from state, local, and tribal partners regarding the federal government’s ability to share information and intelligence.

(American Civil Liberties Union) – Article discusses the need for clear guidelines in information sharing activities to avoid privacy and civil liberties problems.

Information Exchange Model (NIEM) creators are working to advance information-sharing by expanding the schema to add biometrics capabilities. The "NIEM initiative is a program to develop information exchange standards for government agencies, be they state, local or federal. Managed by the Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute, NIEM is based on the Global Justice XML Data Model, a highly successful data model for sharing law enforcement information across local, state and federal agencies".

(Homeland Security Today) – Article discusses, in part, the importance of and need to train fusion center staff on privacy and civil liberties and notes upcoming trainings for fusion centers by the DHS Privacy Office and DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

(Information Week) – Article discusses a National Research Council report that the federal government should systematically evaluate the effectiveness and lawfulness of homeland security-related data mining and behavioral surveillance programs before deployment.

(FCW.com) - Article discusses a new report from a committee of the National Research Council of the National Academies that suggests that the federal government should systematically evaluate the effectiveness and lawfulness of homeland security-related data mining and behavioral surveillance programs before deployment.

(FCW.com) – Article discusses the importance of getting access to state and local information and sharing federal information with state and local governments.

(N.Y. Times) – Article discusses privacy and civil liberties implications of new terrorism investigation guidelines and the effect of such guidelines on posse comitatus.

The Maine State Police (MSP), on behalf of the state's criminal justice partners, has released version 1.0 of the Maine Justice Information Sharing Architecture (MJISA), which the SEARCH Systems and Technology team developed for MSP. Along with the architecture, MSP has released a request for proposals (RFP) for a statewide justice integration platform and is also working on a strategic plan for justice information sharing. SEARCH is assisting MSP and its partners in developing these products as well. The MJISA establishes a service-oriented architecture for justice and public safety information sharing in Maine and leverages national standards and best practices such as the Global Justice Reference Architecture (JRA), the Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM), the Global Federated Identity and Privilege Management (GFIPM) standards, and the Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM). The MJISA will serve as comprehensive guidance to the planning, implementation, deployment, and operation of information sharing solutions in Maine going forward. The goals of the architecture are to streamline the implementation of information exchanges, increase consistency, and lower project risk and cost, while maintaining responsiveness to changing business conditions and preserving individual agencies' autonomy over their internal business processes.