The Integrated Justice Information Systems Institute (IJIS) was recently selected as BusinessWeek magazine's 2005 WebSmart 50 organization for being a pacesetter in the Collaboration category. The award was based on IJIS' deployment of enterprise blog technology for its Web site, partner extranet, and staff intranet. The IJIS consortium of information technology companies provides systems, products, and services to the justice community. IJIS has over 120 participating organizations, 16 committees, and at least 37 projects covering various technology issues. IJIS needed a method for improving the way participants communicated and collaborated on drafting policies and standards. The blog approach has provided for an improved and more efficient virtual collaborative environment.

In 1994, the Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator (OSCA) began the Missouri Court Automation project; a broad endeavor to link all of Missouri's courts with each other, with other Missouri agencies and, ultimately, with agencies across the nation. During this project, OSCA adopted the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM) as the vehicle for accomplishing the comprehensive integration tasks. Global JXDM is an XML standard specifically for criminal justice information exchanges. Missouri's conversion is the most ambitious Global JXDM-based data integration project successfully attempted. [Missouri Press Release]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to rely more heavily on new technologies under its Secure Border Initiative (SBI), as well as deploy additional Border Patrol agents. Technologies to be used include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), integration of next generation sensors, cameras, and possibly satellite images. Border patrol agents have successfully experimented with UAVs over the past two years along parts of the southern border, and now DHS wants to expand their use. DHS will be issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to procure the products and services soon.

As a result of lessons learned from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the federal Integrate Wireless Network (IWN) program is reassessing requirements for how the IWN is built and deployed. IWN, which began in 1998, was initially launched to meet radio spectrum rebanding requirements and to cut in half the amount of radio spectrum used by local, state, and federal public safety and law enforcement agencies. Communications breakdowns following the Gulf Coast hurricanes demonstrated shortcomings of federal wireless connectivity and raised interest in ensuring redundancy, survivability, and operation under extreme conditions. IWN is planned to replace separate legacy systems for about 80,000 federal agents and is expected to be interoperable with local and state first-responder radio systems.

The third annual Rural Law Enforcement Technology Institute, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), will be held March 20-23, 2006, in Coronado/San Diego, California. Designed for the command staff of rural and small law enforcement agencies that contain less than 50 sworn offices, personnel will learn about and discuss technology initiatives and issues affecting the law enforcement in their communities. Participants will receive information and assistance on existing and developing technologies, work through problems related to technology implementation, and exchange lessons learned. As part of the program, participants are required to give a brief presentation on a technology issue experience of their department. Registration is free and travel costs are covered; however, only 30 individuals are selected to attend. The application deadline is January 27, 2006.

With advances in photo editing software, concerns have grown over the potential that digitally altered images could be used as court evidence. Digital forensics, however, can detect misleading cut-and-paste jobs and can now match a photograph to a specific camera. Nasir Memon, Polytechnic University, has developed software to identify a camera's manufacturer by identifying the company's unique interpolation algorithms. Memon's technique is useful when investigators are hunting down a camera and a photographer. Additionally, a technique developed by Jessica Fridrich, State University of New York, can trace an individual picture to a specific camera. By zooming in on the unique imperfections, known as noise, that every camera produces, Fridrich's noise analysis determines the camera's ''fingerprint'' and can determine if certain regions of an image have been altered.

Noted for being the only conference exclusively dedicated to court technology, the Ninth Annual Court Technology Conference (CTC9), sponsored by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), was attended by more than 2,400 participants from across the country as well as 122 international delegates from 24 countries. The broad range of topics included the efficient and effective handling of information with many presentations focusing on ways to maintain and enhance the flow of information throughout the courts and the entire justice system. Online streaming media of the CTC9 sessions is available at: www.icmeducation.org/ctc_web/. Tom Carlson, NCSC Internet and Communications Specialist, taught a session on the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM). The Global JXDM is being put forth as the standard wraparound language in which all states and localities will develop their electronic data projects. [Related Article]

The New York Police Department's new Real Time Crime Center is giving investigators the jump start they need to investigate crimes as soon as they occur. The center, which went live in July 2005, funnels critical information from multiple databases into one data warehouse, and combines the information with mapping technology. The real-time data, shown on geographic information system (GIS) maps, assists officers in the field by getting detailed information to them quickly, allowing them to visualize crime data to determine relationships and trends. The data warehouse now provides access to probation and parole records, complaints, 9-1-1 call histories, and state and federal crime records.

Training is the key to successful use of law enforcement and communications technology. James Turk, Program Manager for the Office for Domestic Preparedness, recently spoke at a conference where he encouraged justice agencies to provide adequate training for officers using new technology. Turk noted that police officers who receive new digital voice and data systems often relapse into using previous systems during emergencies since ''stress changes how you use things''. For new systems to be effective, they need to be accompanied by adequate field training, cultural change, and technical support.

Pennsylvania Justice Network's (JNET) new Master Charge Code (MCC) service will soon consolidate and standardize criminal charge codes across the Commonwealth and provide a centralized Web-accessible database that would automate charge code cross-referencing. Charge codes are abbreviated identifiers used to designate criminal offenses when an individual is charged with a crime. The only system of its kind in Pennsylvania, this application will optimize statewide charge code interoperability across disparate agencies and agency systems. Incorporated into the design are Global Justice XML Data Model- (Global JXDM) conformant message formats, simplifying messaging interface development and integration. JNET will host, support, and maintain the MCC service, while the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) will serve as the overall administrator.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the addition of three states to the National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) Web site—Missouri, Massachusetts, and Maine. NSOPR is an unprecedented nationwide public resource that provides real-time access to comprehensive, free-of-charge public sex offender data with a single Internet search. With the addition of these 3 states, the registry now connects 37 states, the District of Columbia, and a territory to the site. Remaining states and territories are expected to be linked by year end.

By year end, the federal government will select a new storage standard for fingerprint data for the new Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), a mandate from President George W. Bush, requires all federal employees and contractors to have secure credentials for physical and logical access to federal facilities. The cards are expected to use a mathematical template of fingerprint images instead of compressed images of the prints themselves. HSPD-12 requires an interoperable format for storing biometric data on PIV cards. Federal agencies will begin issuing the cards October 27, 2006, and must replace 3.5 million cards by 2009.

Law enforcement officials in Wake County, North Carolina, have deployed the first 4.9 GHz, multi-band broadband public safety network in the country. Funded by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant through the county's Domestic Preparedness Task Force, the mesh network links several video cameras and allows law enforcement officers to monitor areas in real time through personal digital assistants or from mobile terminals patrol vehicles. Police officers will have the ability to control the cameras through the network, providing them with greater situational awareness.

In an effort to develop the Baltimore, Maryland, region's pool of field-ready forensic crime specialists and provide the city of Baltimore with a state-of-the-art reserve forensic crime laboratory, a two million dollar grant has been given to the University of Baltimore (UB) to enable UB to train additional qualified forensic laboratory technicians, whose work leads to the clearing of serious criminal cases. The grant would also make UB's working crime lab—complete with all high-tech innovations—available to the Baltimore City Police Department. Personnel from the police department's crime laboratory and detective division will serve as UB faculty, teaching classes, supervising internships, and mentoring students. [University Press Release]

The Kingston, Ontario, Police Department is using a new online system for performing background checks. The Kingston police background check service screens applicants to ensure there are not any criminal records attached to their names. Although Phase one of the project currently requires officers to search through the records manually, the second phase will automate the search process and allow customer applications to be downloaded to the records management system, triggering an automated search query. Customers requesting background checks will potentially include local businesses that require employee checks, individuals who work with children, and volunteers with charitable organizations.

States have demonstrated that applying the discipline of project management can greatly increase information technology (IT) project success. This premise served as the impetus behind the National Association of State Chief Information Officers' (NASCIO) 2005 survey of state IT project managers concerning their approaches to IT project management. Findings from the survey were released in the report Discipline Succeeds: Findings from the NASCIO State IT Project Management Assessment that revealed trends found in responses of the 34 state project management offices that participated in the self-assessment. These trends set the baseline regarding perceived success of project management as an overarching discipline in state government. [Assessment Report Download]

The Richmond, Virginia, Police Department (RPD) has installed a map-based software application that will forecast locations most likely to experience crime in a specified time period based on historic and current criminal statistics. The new application combines the science of predictive analytics with enterprise business intelligence software using an analytic framework. The data being analyzed is pulled from records management systems, data repositories, 911 calls, and crime reports.

Police officers in the Berks County, Pennsylvania, Police Department were selected by Pennsylvania's Justice Network (JNET) to test wireless technology using small laptop computers that utilize cellular connections to access JNET and other national crime-related databases. JNET installed the hardware and software and will cover the costs of the test project for the next six months. The laptops will assist officers in the field by providing access to information on license plates, vehicle identification numbers, gun checks, missing persons, wanted persons, prison records, probation records, driving records, and protection-from-abuse orders.

Nominations are being accepted for Federal Computer Week Magazine's Federal 100 awards program. Federal 100 awards recognize government and industry employees who have played pivotal roles in the federal information technology community. The Federal 100 program recognizes people, not systems or programs, that made a difference in how technology was bought, managed, or used in 2005. The deadline for nominations is December 21, 2005.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers' (NASCIO) Interoperability and Integration Committee has released a new research brief, We Need to Talk: Governance Models to Advance Communications Interoperability, designed as an overview of the challenges states face in developing communications interoperability initiatives. This brief attempts to answer questions such as, ''What needs to be addressed when contemplating a communications interoperability initiative; and what is being done at the state and federal levels to develop communications interoperability governance models?'' It includes factors impacting governance, keys to successful interoperability, and three state profiles—Maryland, Nevada, and Iowa—that have developed successful governance models and plans to address communications interoperability. [Press Release]

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), in collaboration with SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, has released a new publication entitled Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Small and Rural Police Agencies: A Guide for Executives, Managers, and Technologists. This guide has been created as a companion publication to the 2002 Law Enforcement Tech Guide: How to plan, purchase, and manage technology (successfully!) but has been developed specifically for smaller and rural agencies. It provides practical information that supports smaller agencies' efforts to successfully integrate new technology systems into their operations. Concise guidance is given that focuses on the critical aspects of implementing new technology and presents strategies, best practices, recommendations, and ideas for successful information technology planning and implementation.

Each year the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center's (NLECTC) Rocky Mountain Regional Center sponsors the Innovative Technologies for Community Corrections Conference to explore practical applications of technologies, both in use and on the horizon, and to convey technology information to community corrections professionals. There are four tracks available at this conference: Electronic Monitoring, Drug and Alcohol Testing, Information Technology, and Management Issues. Each track will provide attendees with current data on how technology is being used to enhance mission performance. NLECTC is currently requesting presenters for the 2006 conference to feature projects that have implemented technology to solve an operational problem or management issue related to technology. Deadline for submission is December 1, 2005.

The staff of the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement's (NCRLE) Center for Information Technology Engineering (CITE) recently completed the first phase of a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)-funded project to allow the sharing of justice information between the Hopi Tribe and the Pueblo of Zuni in New Mexico and Arizona. Under the Tribal Criminal History Record Improvement Program (TCHRIP), NCRLE will interconnect the criminal data records from the two tribes, allowing the sharing of information between the two tribes as well as between local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Included in this project is a wireless bridging system that will enable the delivery of educational services to juveniles housed at the local detention center.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced a partnership with four regional crime laboratories to augment the nation's capacity to perform mitochondrial (mt) DNA analysis in forensic and missing person cases. This type of analysis, conducted free of charge for local and state law enforcement agencies, is applied to biological items of evidence found at a crime scene containing little or degraded quantities of DNA. High sensitivity mtDNA analysis also allows labs to obtain information from old items associated with cold cases. The FBI Laboratory conducted analyses in over 600 cases in fiscal year 2005. The partnership will provide valuable information for solving violent crime and terrorism cases and will also enhance the quantity of profiles in the National Missing Person DNA Database—a valuable resource that can link missing persons to DNA profiles.

With a population of 1.4 million people and over 3.3 million police, fire, and emergency medical service (EMS) 9-1-1 calls coming in each year, the Philadelphia Police Department has contracted to completely upgrade its thirty year-old emergency communications system. The new system will provide analysis and reconstruction functions for the Philadelphia PD 911 center that will analyze emergency communications, reconstruct scenarios, and share information that will ensure first responders make informed decisions during emergency situations.

This article features the New York Police Department's (NYPD) Computer Crime Squad whose detectives, operating under limited resources, investigate anything from computer intrusions to terrorist leads. Computer forensics is the conservation, deconstruction, and analysis of electronic evidence contained on personal computers, networks, and handheld devices, such as cell phones and personal digital assistants. The squad is divided into three modules: online forensics, investigations, and post-mortem forensics. The team uses a secure room that is dedicated to online forensics; a controlled environment where every keystroke a detective makes online is monitored and recorded in order to produce results admissible in court.

A new digital video project was unveiled recently at the Audubon Youth Development Center in Louisville, Kentucky, by the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice. The system will not only enable the department's security managers to monitor the activities occurring in a facility in real time, it will also provide for a centralized searchable archive of digital video records. The Audubon Youth Development Center is the second juvenile facility to install the streaming video system.

Under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision (the 'Compact'), approximately 250,000 adult offenders transfer from state to state annually, thus creating a great burden on states' resources to track and manage the supervision of these individuals. Soon, however, a new Web-based system, the National Adult Compact Information System (NACIS), will provide states with an unprecedented level of nationwide electronic sharing, transferring, and tracking of offender information. Developed by the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS), the administrative body with oversight authority of the Compact, NACIS will operate based upon the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM). All 50 states are currently members of the Compact, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. By August 1, 2006, every state will be required to use the system to transfer probationers and parolees.

The Global XML Structure Task Force (GXSTF) has released a patch for the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM). Global JXDM Patch-1 is being distributed to correct labeling of Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) documentation elements for UCR codes. This patch is applicable to all operational versions of the Global JXDM, however only Global JXDM Version 3.0.3 will be patched in the Schema Subset Generation Tool (SSGT). Want lists that were previously generated by SSGT from the non-patched 3.0.3 release will be regenerated with the updated (patched) UCR schema. The next full Global JXDM release will correct the UCR code schema. [Link to Global JXDM Patch-1]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently released its 2003-2004 Operations Report highlighting improvements and achievements of its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), run out of the Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The NICS background check system was established in November 1998 to ensure that those seeking to buy guns or explosives are not criminals or other persons prohibited by law. [Press Release]

In Australia, the Justice Sector Information Exchange Committee is pursuing the development of electronic XML-based interfaces to enable agencies such as Australia's Attorney's General Department, Department of Corrective Services, police, and others to share real-time information concerning offenders. Through this initiative, each agency will translate data to an agreed-upon common format and publish XML data sets to appropriate agencies. The Web-based system will provide a range of services online and will also standardize and simplify business processes. The system has been piloted in Australia's Supreme Court and is likely to be introduced top-down through the courts. The court component is expected to be implemented in February 2007, with online services available by the end of 2007.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a component of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). NIJ is seeking concept papers for technology research, development, testing, and evaluation projects that address the technology needs of local and state corrections officials, probation and parole officials, and officials from other criminal justice agencies that collaborate with corrections agencies. Concept papers may address new technologies that support the operations of a correctional facility or enhance the safety and effectiveness of correctional officers and staff. Additionally, NIJ may support, for uses within the corrections operational environment, the application of new technologies not developed specifically for corrections. The due date for concept papers is November 18, 2005. [Related NIJ Solicitation: Electronic Crime Research and Development]

The Ogden City, Utah, Police Department (OCPD) will soon implement facial recognition and computerized composite sketching technology as part of the city's suspect identification project. The system will include an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) database that police will be able to use to search, send, and receive fingerprints electronically, search for facial images; and send information to the state AFIS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) crime directory, or other agencies as necessary. The OCPD will be able to simplify identification procedures by letting officers conduct facial recognition searches against both its existing records management system and to composites created using digital composite sketching technology.

According to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2003 to 2004, the estimated volume of violent crime in the nation declined 1.2%, the estimated volume of property crime (including vehicle theft) declined 1.1%, and the rate of property crime decreased 2.1%. Telematics, according to the FBI, has played a large role in curtailing the tide of previous years. ''More crime is stopped on the street than from an office. Wireless devices make the job easier and more efficient,'' said FBI Chief Information Officer Zalmai Azmi. FBI agents use mobile briefcases containing mobile computing capabilities, including laptops, global positioning system (GPS) capability, and wireless communication devices.

Under a proposed framework decision released by the European Commission on October 12, 2005, European countries would exchange law enforcement information, such as DNA profiles and fingerprints, across international borders. The goal of the new information sharing system is to better address multinational organized crime and terrorism and will include safeguards and legal remedies for the transfer of personal data. The framework decision sets up a system in which member states must share certain types of existing information with other member states and requires notification when certain types of information are available and accessible in online electronic databases.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Attorney General of Mexico Daniel Cabeza de Vaca jointly announced initiatives to enhance the coordination of U.S. and Mexico law enforcement efforts that combat the substantial threat of violence posed by narcotics trafficking groups and their associates operating along the 2,000 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Representatives from both law enforcement and criminal justice communities met to discuss the aggressive, bilateral, multiagency law enforcement actions needed to quell the ''narco-violence'' that threatens the security of communities on both sides of the border. The agreement includes improved coordination and timeliness of law enforcement information and intelligence sharing, as well as training and technical assistance in an array of criminal investigative areas, such as port security, forensics, prison security, victim and witness security, and firearms and explosives.

The San Carlos, California, Police Department has installed a new digital audio and video system in its patrol fleet as an important risk management and investigative tool. This new technology is designed to record police contacts in the field and also to provide for wireless downloading of audio and video files onto a computer server. The department sees tremendous advantages in this technology because it allows for ease of storage and access, is viewable from desktop computers, requires no handling of tapes, and transfers easily to other interested parties such as prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the courts.

The Hennepin County, Minnesota, Sheriffs Office has awarded a $900,000 contract to expand a mobile identification network, deploying handheld mobile units that enable law enforcement officials to conduct real-time, biometric identification of individuals in the field. The devices will also be tied into an automated fingerprint identification system and will allow officers the ability to capture and wirelessly transmit fingerprint and facial data of suspects in the field through a designated server. Funding for this initiative has been provided by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

Four Rhode Island communities—Cranston, Providence, Warwick, and Newport—are participating in a new pilot project with the E-9-1-1 Emergency Telephone System. Using technology called ''pictometry,'' the project provides 9-1-1 staffers, dispatchers, police, and firefighters with critical information about the premises where an emergency call originates from. Pictometry allows emergency response workers to view as many as 12 high-resolution, angled aerial photos of any call location, thus equipping them with the pertinent information they need before they get to the scene. Use of this program is expected to improve response time and reduce risks. The pilot is funded by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant.

This article describes the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Wireless Management Office's (WMO) High-Risk Metropolitan Areas Interoperability Assistance Project dubbed ''The 25 Cities Project.'' Begun in 2003 as an endeavor to improve communications interoperability for public safety and first responders, 25 cities were invited to participate who had populations of more than one million, a transportation infrastructure, and communications interoperability gaps. DOJ's approach was local- and state-driven, involving those with the most knowledge of their systems and needs. Some of the feature implementations included a free-space optical network for Honolulu, Hawaii, that connected Honolulu City Police, municipal, state, and federal agencies; a mobile communications vehicle for Denver, Colorado; and the development of an interoperability user's guide, by the Metropolitan Council of Governments, that was distributed to police departments across the country.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the addition of three more states to the National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) Web site. Arkansas, Georgia, and Oklahoma have been added to this unprecedented public resource that shares comprehensive, free-of-charge public sex offender data with citizens nationwide. With a single query from any Web-enabled computer, NSOPR searches public state and territory sex offender registries to deliver matched results. The site was activated on July 20, 2005, and initially linked 22 states, but today connects 32 states, the District of Columbia, and one territory, with the remaining states and territories to be linked by year end.

The first draft, Version 0.1, of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) has been released for public comment. NIEM is an XML-based schema that can be used by different agencies to share information by using a standardized set of metadata to encode their information, thus enabling them to exchange data with other agencies. NIEM is the result of a collaborative effort by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that was launched in February 2005. NIEM uses the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM) as its foundation but expands the Global JXDM to be applicable to areas beyond the justice community. The deadline for feedback is October 25, 2005. [About NIEM 0.1]

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded $500,000 to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) to promote the concept of a common framework to enable information sharing at all levels of government. The grant contains eight initiatives that include DOJ's Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM) as an implementation choice for XML; expansion of the Global JXDM to include environmental protection requirements; the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) and its expansion into other lines of business; NASCIO Enterprise Architecture products; identification and cataloging of critical information exchanges between different lines of business and levels of government; and the addressing of data quality issues relevant to information sharing. NASCIO will involve the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Transportation. [Press Release]

At a recent American Correctional Association (ACA) conference, Steve Morrison, the Vice President of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium, which cohosts an annual mock riot and mock disaster each year, provided corrections and public safety attendees with a presentation on how facilities and agencies can prepare for a potential terrorist threat. These included tips on planning and training, such as having separate physical security, bomb incident, and biohazard threat plans; and preparation and prevention methods, such as intelligence gathering, reviewing offender files, inmate tracking, monitoring volunteers by performing background checks and comparisons to terrorist watch lists, as well as examining mail correspondence to both offenders and staff. Mr. Morrison emphasized that terrorists are trained to understand our culture and the American psyche and that all staff should know and understand the risks their facility faces.

The city of Yonkers, New York, Police Department, Westchester County, and even state police are now able to access a new investigative tool that allows them to tap into the county's extensive criminal justice data warehouse and to search thousands of law enforcement entries. The database includes information entered by local and county police, and county jail and probation departments, as well as records on gun permits, taxi and limousine records. The shared database is helping officials track down criminal suspects, simplifies the investigation process, and is helping to coordinate law enforcement efforts. Since the system was built to federal criminal justice data standards, it is designed with the potential to exchange data with federal criminal justice agencies.

The 16th Annual Problem-Oriented Policing Conference, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and sponsored by the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, will feature presentations by police practitioners from up to 12 of the best submissions for the Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing and will include sessions on a variety of community policing topics. The conference which will be held October 21-23, 2005, in Charlotte, North Carolina, is designed for police officials and law enforcement scholars who will learn about the origins and applications of problem-oriented policing, how to apply it to crime and other public safety problems, the role of leadership in implementing problem-oriented policing, how to share responsibility for public safety problems, lessons on crime analysis, roles in preventing terrorism, and more.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has released Part II of its research brief entitled The Year of Working Dangerously: The Privacy Implications of Wireless in the State Workplace. This research brief will help states avoid the unintended privacy consequences of wireless technologies. The companion publication, Part I, posed five privacy scenarios that, if not addressed, could outweigh the mobility and productivity benefits that wireless technologies bring to the state government workplace. Part II of this research brief offers guidance to states for developing and implementing privacy policy measures and securing wireless technologies to prevent the unauthorized exposure of citizens' personal information. It addresses ways that states can implement emerging wireless technologies in a manner that is not invasive to citizens' perceived privacy expectations. [Part I]

By December, the Florida Integrated Network for Data Exchange and Retrieval (FINDER) system, overseen by the Florida Law Enforcement Data Sharing Consortium, will comply with the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM). This will enable FINDER participants to share data with agencies in other states through a common language. FINDER enables investigators and officers to query police records from participating agency databases. FINDER is a locally designed and implemented solution, costing less than $1 million, and is an open-source, nonproprietary platform that is compatible with any agency's record management system.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a tremendous amount of attention has been focused on the need for constructive changes in management strategies for American law enforcement. In response, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), in partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and other national organizations, is pleased to announce the release of four monographs from the Post-9/11 Policing Project. The New Realities: Law Enforcement in the Post-9/11 Era series allows local, state, and tribal agency leaders to speak to the prevention factor in the homeland security equation.

The U.S. Department of Justice-funded Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute has formed the Advisory Committee on Law Enforcement Information Technology (IT) Standards to broaden industry involvement in the vetting and endorsement of standards for dispatch and records systems and to develop the technical standards needed to support data exchange between systems and between agencies. IJIS has been working with the Law Enforcement Information Technology Standard Council (LEITSC) to develop functional standards for computer-aided dispatching and police records management systems. The newly formed committee plans to use the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM) as the basis for the data exchange format.

Hawaii Business Express was unveiled last week. It reduces the time and paperwork vendors must spend demonstrating compliance with state laws that are aimed at ensuring that vendors are good corporate citizens. Recent laws were passed requiring businesses to demonstrate thier compliance with business regulations at the state and local levels. Hawaii Compliance Express allows the businesses to register and acquire an electronic certificate online. This service allows businesses to reduce the amount of time spent compying with these laws by reducing the overall paperwork that is now shared across state and local agencies.

Law enforcement officials in the state of Washington have begun developing a new Internet-based mapping system that will provide first responders with critical information about public infrastructures that will better prepare them to handle terrorist or emergency situations. Development of the Critical Incident Planning and Mapping System is expected to begin later this month. The system will provide access to tactical response plans, satellite imagery, photos, floor plans, and hazardous chemical locations.

New York Governor George E. Pataki has unveiled a new fraud resistant driver's license design that will help prevent license tampering by incorporating a series of new security enhancements that make the documents virtually impossible to tamper with or duplicate. The most prominent new security feature is the use of an optical variable device (OVD) embedded within the laminate to prevent forgery. New York is among the first states in the nation to feature this technology. Additional anti-fraud measures include duplex patterns within the design, a two-dimensional bar code on the back that verifies information contained on the front of the document, and ''Under 21'' markings for documents issued to anyone under the age of 21.

The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP), together with the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global), has officially issued the newest version of the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM) to the justice community—Version 3.0.3. This ''maintenance'' release of the Version 3.0 Global JXDM series has been enhanced to increase the ability of justice and public safety communities to share justice information at all levels. Updates include new components that are compatible with the previous version, new ''sequenceID'' values for ''PersonNameType'' sub-elements for assigning alternate ordering that is independent of the physical XML sequence, and updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). For a list of updates, refer to the Global JXDM Change Log.

The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and the Global Training and Technical Assistance Committee (GTTAC) are pleased to announce that the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM) Virtual Help Desk is now available to the public. This new interactive resource provides an enhanced level of help to individuals and agencies implementing the Global JXDM and includes an online knowledgebase, as well as the option to submit questions to live support staff via the Web, e-mail, or by phone. There are three levels of staff support. Level 1 is staffed by the Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute and provides basic responses, builds the knowledgebase, and manages the project. Level 2 is staffed by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, and provides specific domain expertise. Level 3 is staffed by IJIS member companies and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and provides technical expertise for the most difficult technical questions. [Related Article]

This article describes the justice information sharing efforts being made within the U.S., by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and internationally. Organizations, such as the International Criminal Police Organization's Interpol and the European Union's European Police Office (Europol), are using justice information sharing to keep terrorists from crossing international borders. One key to international data sharing is Extensible Markup Language (XML) and a vocabulary tailored specifically for law enforcement--the Global Justice XML Data Model (Global JXDM)--an XML adaptation created by DOJ's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global).

The National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology, and the Law at Stetson University's College of Law, and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), will present a national conference, September 12-14, 2005, to discuss emerging legal and scientific issues and trends in the use of scientific evidence in the courtroom. Designed for law enforcement professionals, legal experts, forensic scientists, academia, and expert witnesses, the conference will include topics such as 'The Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Cybercrime Cases' and 'Balancing Information Sharing and Privacy Concerns.'

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division has collaborated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Cyber Security Division to develop an online comprehensive database of newly discovered computer and software vulnerabilities. The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) is updated daily and serves as a clearinghouse of almost 12,000 vulnerabilities. NVD integrates all publicly available U.S. government resources on vulnerabilities, provides links to industry resources, and allows users to search by a variety of characteristics, such as vulnerability type, severity, and impact; software name and version number; and vendor name. It can also be used to research the vulnerability history of a product and view vulnerability statistics and trends.

This article highlights the information sharing initiatives supported by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). These include the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP) that DOJ helps to ensure that all of its components are effectively sharing information with each other and the rest of the nation's law enforcement community. In addition to this, the plan will also focus on the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) representing 1.2 million justice professionals and publishing guides, best practices, and standards for information sharing. The Law Enforcement Information Sharing Initiative (LEIS) has established a strategy for DOJ to routinely share information to all levels of law enforcement and to guide the investment of resources in information systems that will further this goal.

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is pleased to announce the release of Wayfarer 2.0 Beta, an exploration and discovery tool for the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM). Wayfarer provides a hierarchical overview of the Global JXDM relationships, as well as detailed information about individual elements and types and the relationships between them. Names and descriptions are fully searchable. The new release includes a re-designed database generated from the official Global JXDM schema, the ability to search code tables and sort elements, and an enhanced interface.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in partnership with the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC), has released an Executive Summary on Fusion Center Guidelines: Law Enforcement Intelligence Component. The CICC is developing guidelines for establishing and operating fusion centers at the local, state, and federal level that implement components of the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan. Guidelines have been separated into three phases: law enforcement intelligence, public safety, and private sector. This release of the Law Enforcement Intelligence phase can be used for homeland security efforts, as well as for all crimes.

Tampa Bay, Florida, law enforcement agencies are forming the Tampa Bay Security Network. This network will search through vast quantities of information on individuals, organizations, locations, documents, vehicles, weapons, and property stored in multiple databases across the region. Using U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding through the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program and other domestic security grant funding, the network will utilize Knowledge Computing Corporation's CopLink technology to eventually create a statewide law enforcement information sharing network.

The Michigan State Police (MSP) will soon offer electronic fingerprinting for state-mandated applicant background checks within a 50-mile radius of each applicant. Certain types of employment and licensing require background checks, such as employment in schools or health care, private security and investigator licenses, and individuals who deal directly with children. Under the new system, an applicant's fingerprints and necessary personal information will be captured digitally and submitted electronically to the MSP for processing.

Sacramento County, California, has implemented a new mobile license plate recognition system that enhances and automates parking enforcement processes. The plate recognition program uses cameras to photograph license plates, which are then translated into machine-readable characters. Cars and their locations are photographed so that if it is photographed again, after the parking limit expires, a ticket is automatically issued. Access to a parking permit database helps officers determine if vehicles are legally parked and automatic record checks in a stolen vehicle database alert officers if a license plate is recognized.

Kentucky State Auditor Crit Luallen announced that a random sampling of surplus computers, designated to be offered for sale, revealed that one computer, formerly used by the Kentucky State Police, still contained records of 5,828 people who had been issued access cards to state facilities. The records contained personal information, including names, photographs, and social security numbers. In response to the finding, Auditor Luallen issued an Auditor's Alert reminding all state agencies that electronic media must be sanitized prior to disposal. The Auditor's Office's Division of Special Examinations and Information Technology routinely examine computers prior to disposal or sale.

New Jersey's Statewide Intelligence Management System (SIMS) will soon extend access to officers and investigators at all 650 police agencies statewide. Since 2002, SIMS has served as the foundation for a system that lets New Jersey State Police intelligence specialists search databases statewide for information that could help with criminal investigations. New Jersey will now put that investigative power into the hands of all local and state police officers and offer access to the system to other states, federal law enforcement agencies, and international crime fighters. The state also plans to expand its SIMS training program to include prospective officers at the academy level.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety (MAPS) program is holding its 8th Annual Crime Mapping Research Conference, September 7-10, 2005, in Savannah, Georgia. The conference features a wide-range of presentations on mapping and public safety. Topics include corrections, probation and parole, geography of crime, geographical information system (GIS) applications, geographic profiling, offender travel behavior, and spatial data analysis, as well as numerous workshops and a plenary session on information-led policing.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced further implementation of its National Information Sharing Strategy (NISS). Within NISS is the first Regional Data Exchange, or R-DEx. Later this summer, R-DEx will connect to the Naval Criminal Investigative Services' Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LInX). The FBI plans to add the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), U.S. Marshals, and Bureau of Prison investigative data. R-DEx serves as the first of several systems contributing to the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Law Enforcement Information Sharing Program (LEISP).

The National Association of Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has released a research brief entitled Connecting the Silos: Using Governance Models to Achieve Data Integration that discusses the challenges facing states' data integration projects. The brief describes what integration means along with other relevant issues such as ownership, privacy and access, data quality, security, and more. The brief states that integration is about sharing information and attaining common business objectives across various agencies and jurisdictions, and talks about what several states are doing to develop governance models.

On June 21, 2005, lawmakers introduced the Improve Interoperable Communications for First Responders Act of 2005 to help first responders communicate with each other during disasters. The act would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a national strategy and architecture for interoperable communications, including providing technical assistance to local and state officials in developing interoperable systems. It would authorize DHS to establish a comprehensive and competitive research and development program, as well as require the DHS Office of Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) to fund and conduct pilot programs to evaluate new technologies.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has awarded a Leadership in Technology Award to the Alaska Law Enforcement Information Sharing System (ALEISS), a statewide consortium of Alaska law enforcement agencies. ALEISS was recognized for excellence in law enforcement communications and interoperability for its technology deployment, which is powered by Knowledge Computing Corporation's COPLINK® solution. The system allows vast quantities of structured and unrelated data, housed in incompatible computer-based record management systems (RMS), to be organized under a single, highly secure intranet-based platform. One search produces qualified leads in seconds.

Hawaii's Acting Governor James Aiona signed into law a bill requiring DNA testing of all felons, not just those convicted of murder or sex offenses. The law establishes procedures for testing samples, requires retention of evidence for DNA analysis, extends the statute of limitations for felony cases where DNA evidence was recovered, allows convicted persons to request DNA analysis of evidence, and allows deletion of DNA profiles of persons whose underlying conviction has been reversed.

This Police Chief magazine feature explores service-oriented architecture (SOA) as a valid solution for justice information sharing, outlining six basic tenets on why it is the logical architecture choice for criminal justice and public safety. SOA is being explored and recommended by members of the U.S. Department of Justice's Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) Infrastructure/Standards Working Group (GISWG) as another part of the interoperability puzzle, working in concert with the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM). [Global SOA Summary]

The newly online Tampa Bay Security Network connects the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) with five Hillsborough and Pinellas County, Florida, law enforcement agencies. The network allows officials to search for information on suspects and access neighboring counties' mug shots, arrest reports, witness interviews, traffic citations, and dispatch records. Fifty-eight more agencies in nine counties will be connected in 2006. The network is expected to improve investigations and help prevent crimes.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have created the Federal Investigative Case Management Solution (FICMS), a standard that will provide a blueprint for federal law enforcement case management systems. Case management systems process case leads, evidence, resource allocation, documents, records, workflow, and intelligence. The two agencies are expected to hire a vendor to expand the details of the FICMS for law enforcement projects. The two agencies are also preparing two requests for proposals under the Case Management Line of Business Consolidation effort. [Related Article]

Predictive analytics, which converts huge amounts of data into related trends and streamlines processes, has become a useful tool for law enforcement. Dallas', Texas, 311 system used predictive analytics to manage the vast amounts of data pouring through the call system to develop performance measurement strategies. Police in Richmond, Virginia, who initially used analytics to look at historical criminal activity to find patterns and apply a risk-based deployment strategy, now use it to determine motives in investigations, and are beginning to think in terms of models that can predict criminal activity.

The U.S. Secret Service and the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute's CERT have announced the findings of the second Insider Threat Study that analyzed acts of insider sabotage on computer systems in critical infrastructure sectors. The study was designed to develop information to help law enforcement, government, and private industry better understand, detect, and mitigate harmful insider threats. Forty-nine sabotage cases that occurred between 1996 and 2002 were examined across critical infrastructure sectors. [Complete Report]

Under the direction of the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has been directed to assist in the development of the National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) that will allow citizens to search pre-existing public sex offender registries. The registry will use Web services and DOJ's Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) as the computer language that will relay offender data to the national registry from disparate systems. NSOPR will serve as an opportunity for all states and territories to share comprehensive, free-of-charge public sex offender data with citizens nationwide.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is building the Retail Loss Prevention Intelligence Network (RL-PIN) database that will house data on retail burglaries, fraud, and robberies. The information will be uploaded to RL-PIN from retailer's proprietary databases using extensible markup language (XML), thus ensuring that the data in the repository can be integrated with systems used by law enforcement, government, and others. Law enforcement agencies and retailers will be able to search the data to find patterns on specific regions, stores, and even brands.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has published a handbook entitled Top Priority: The Fire Service Guide To Interoperable Communications, developed to help fire and emergency services understand communications interoperability and to provide steps to improving communications in their region. It provides a common operational definition of interoperability, discusses the foundation for interoperable communications, and provides direction to establish interoperability between public safety services, including fire, emergency medical services (EMS), and law enforcement.

This article contains an overview of data privacy bills that are being introduced, or will soon be introduced, to the House and Senate by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some of the privacy rules proposed include: a requirement to notify individuals of stolen or exposed information; an exception for criminal investigations or national security issues; the establishment of an Office of Identity Theft within the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); background checks and tracking for those with access to sensitive data; reports to consumers of access to their data, and more.

A collaboration between industry professionals, U.S. Secret Service (USS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), law enforcement, and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Magazine has resulted in the publication of guidelines, CIO Cyberthreat Response and Reporting Guidelines, that provide a basic understanding of what is required for cyberthreat incident response and how to report such incidents to law enforcement. Guideline recommendations were restricted to attacks on information systems or data.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's SAFECOM Program and the Office of Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) announced the availability of the Statewide Communications Interoperability Planning (SCIP) Methodology that outlines a step-by-step process for developing a locally driven, statewide strategic plan to enhance communications interoperability. The SCIP methodology is the result of collaboration between SAFECOM and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Cyber Incident Detection Data Analysis Center (CIDDAC), a new cybersecurity operations center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a pilot funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, was established to continuously monitor and report cyber threats against critical infrastructure networks. CIDDAC uses sensors linked to participants' networks that will alert law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other member organizations, once a threat is detected.

The Chicago, Illinois, Fire Department is benefiting from the acquisition of new hand-held notepads that are equipped with the latest in medical reporting technology, in an effort to increase paramedic efficiency, reconcile incident responses, and improve the response to large-scale emergency incidents. Other equipment purchases include a highly specialized camera that will be mounted on a helicopter to enhance the department's effort to manage emergency tactical situations.

Los Angeles, California, officials plan to implement a Web-based information collection and analysis system known as Operation Archangel that will provide emergency officials and field commanders with details about facilities' vulnerabilities and protection plans. The information collected could include contact information, building plans, maps, etc. Operation Archangel, which was initially funded by a $3 million U.S. Department of Justice grant, won Federal Computer Week's 2005 Monticello award.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is sponsoring its annual Technology Institutes--one specifically for law enforcement personnel; the other for corrections personnel. Both institutes run for five days and provide information and assistance on existing and developing technologies, allow participants to work through problems related to technology implementation, and exchange technology lessons learned. Only 25 individuals are selected to attend each Institute, and all costs are covered.

Florida's Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System (SLERS), the system that kept communications open between 14 state agencies and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during the barrage of hurricanes last year, is certified to reach 98 percent of Florida and up to 25 miles offshore. It is an internet protocol (IP)-based system connecting approximately 300 statewide radio frequency towers that are built to withstand high winds. SLERS has ''public safety grade'' fault tolerance (redundant paths for communication) built in.

Through the efforts of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG), and TIAX LLC, a collaborative research and development company, a personal nerve agent monitor may be available before the end of 2005 for law enforcement officers and other first responders. An early prototype was evaluated by several public safety agencies under operational conditions and has now been forwarded to the Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for completion.

This article explores high-definition surveying (HDS) technology and discusses its potential use for crime scene investigations and real-time application in tactical situations, such as a tactical team virtually touring the inside of a school where children are being held hostage. Through a combination of laser and computer technology, HDS reflects a laser light off of objects in the scene and back to a digital sensor, creating 3-D spatial coordinates that are converted into a virtual image of any location.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced that the state is working to help local law enforcement agencies talk to each other during emergencies. Using federal grants, the state is gradually implementing a system that allows police agencies across the state to communicate with each other, despite differing equipment. The project combines state-of-the-art equipment with an existing 800 MegaHertz (MHz) radio system. Another federal grant is being used to improve agency-to-agency communications, covering 75 percent of the state's population.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (RCFL), whose program was evaluated on novelty, effectiveness in addressing important problems, significance, and the potential for replication by other government entities, garnered a semi-finalist designation as one of the ''Top 50'' programs in the 2005 Innovations in American Government Awards. RCFL is a national network of full-service digital evidence laboratories. Seven RCFLs are in operation, with six more opening in 2005.

The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), a partnership between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), is looking for pilot projects to test standards for data sharing and interoperability. A concept of operations, outlining pilot project goals, is expected to be issued April 4, 2005. NIEM uses the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM) as its base and will enhance it for national applicability and deployment. A NIEM Web site will be available May 1st.

The Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been named as one of the ten semifinalists from federal agencies for one of the six Innovations in American Government Awards for the most creative, forward thinking, results-driven government programs at the city, county, state, and federal levels. The Global JXDM was developed by the Office of Justice Programs, DOJ, together with the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global).

A vital partner of justice and law enforcement agencies has been the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, whose mission is to protect the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, and its customers from criminal attack; to secure the nation's mail system from criminal misuse; and to ensure the American public's trust in the U.S. mail. This article features the successes, resources, and national and cross-border investigative involvement of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in the war on crime.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert S. Mueller, III, in a testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Appropriations, outlined the FBI's 2006 budget, noting the Directorate of Intelligence as a key funding area. The program provides integrated intelligence capabilities, leverages traditional law enforcement to ensure no walls exist for intelligence data, and integrates local, tribal, and state law enforcement partners into the FBI's intelligence structures.

Operators of the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN), Law Enforcement Online (LEO), the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS), and the Criminal Information Sharing Alliance Network (CISAnet) are collaborating on the Counterterrorism Collaboration Interoperability Project (CCIP), an interoperability plan between each system to form a new connectivity and information sharing environment that provides more effective communications and responses to criminal and terrorist activities.

The Wisconsin Justice Information Sharing (WIJIS) program was one of six to receive a $50,000 National Governors Association (NGA) grant to encourage justice information technology integration using the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM) for exchanging information among existing systems. WIJIS will use the funds to launch a pilot project that uses the XML-based standard to give justice personnel access to updated probation and parole conditions.

Since installing fingerprint matching systems on the Mexican and Canadian borders, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has increased arrests from 2,612 in 2002 to 29,501 in 2004. The new system compares fingerprints of those seeking admittance against records in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) database of wanted suspects and criminals. As part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's ''virtual border,'' the system was designed to stop terrorists from entering the country.

Texas Governor Rick Perry announced grant awards totaling $521,643 under the federal Local Law Enforcement Block Grant (LLEBG) Program. The awards will enable local agencies to purchase necessary equipment and technology, as well as provide increased training and education for new law enforcement personnel. City purchases will include video systems for patrol cars, surveillance equipment, communications equipment, a survey system to provide diagram data, and more.

The April 1, 2005, deadline nears for states to apply for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), U.S. Department of Justice, National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). Awards will be made for projects that consider laws covering crime identification technology, handgun violence prevention, and more and will include projects that evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of state records systems and data entry of domestic violence into local, state, and national databases.

To encourage justice information technology integration, the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices has awarded six states–-Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin–-each with a $50,000 grant to implement pilot projects using the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM) for exchanging information among existing systems. NGA will provide site visits, two policy academy meetings, and customized technical assistance.

Alabama's law enforcement and court officials are planning to deploy an electronic citation (e-citation) application statewide that will be linked to patrol car computers. Police officers and state troopers will be able to import and validate driver and vehicle data from various databases, check for violations, automatically fill in and print e-citations for moving violations, and wirelessly upload the data to a court case management system.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has adopted the Support for Inclusion of Law Enforcement Agencies in Proposals Designed to Improve National Intelligence Capabilities resolution, calling on the IACP to monitor intelligence developments to ensure proposals include law enforcement needs. The IACP will also present Criminal Intelligence Sharing Summit findings and Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) Intelligence Working Group products to government forums.

In mid-December, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, added bench warrants to the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network (CLEAN). The result helped law enforcement catch more than five fugitives per day now that records of people failing to appear in court are immediately accessible by officers and gun dealers. CLEAN, established in 1971, also contains driver's license and motor vehicle data, state criminal histories, and maintains connections to over forty other networks. [Additional News]

Dutchess County, New York, plans to replace the county's twenty-year-old existing mainframe-based justice system with a highly integrated criminal justice and safety computer system, enhancing the collaborative efforts of the District Attorney, Emergency Response, Jail, Probation, Public Defender, and the Sheriff's Office. Mug shots, digital fingerprints, arrest warrants, and other criminal justice data will be accessible across agencies and by mobile computers in patrol cars.

In Wausau, Wisconsin, local governments will benefit from $100,000 in Wisconsin tribal grants for services such as law enforcement, roads, fire departments, educational programs, computer-technical equipment, or projects that promote intergovernmental cooperation or sharing governmental resources. The grants are a result of a new gambling agreement the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians negotiated with Wisconsin, deducting grant contributions from monies owed to the state.

DeSoto County, Mississippi, law enforcement agencies plan to use federal money to build an electronic link to help officers search each department's database of information about arrests, suspects in ongoing investigations, and other categories. The system will also allow police to issue electronic tickets, visually locate patrol units and dispatch them according to incoming calls, and provide building layouts accessible by local fire departments.

The Palm Beach County, Florida, Information Systems Services (ISS) Department, in conjunction with the Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission and local law enforcement agencies will develop and deploy a Data Sharing System to integrate over 50 disparate local and state law enforcement data sources, providing a comprehensive real-time information sharing and collaboration platform. Police will be able to perform a single query against multiple local and state law enforcement databases.

The commonwealth of Massachusetts has deployed a comprehensive, instant record-checking system for gun owners and purchasers called the Massachusetts Instant Record Check System (MIRCS). MIRCS combines biometrics with the state's criminal history database. Purchasers must pass a background check to apply for a license and another background check when purchasing a gun. The Web-based system is updated daily with warrant and restraining order records and provides police a database of all firearms sales.

In the Shenandoah Valley, the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia, will soon establish an interoperable communications system that will enable police, sheriff, fire, and emergency medical first responders to talk to one another and coordinate with other city and county service agencies on a single digital access communications system. The system will eventually combine voice and data functionality, network security, and interoperability for integrating more government agencies.

Wyoming's interoperable radio system, WYOLink, set up through the Wyoming Department of Transportation, will offer first-responder agencies 95 percent statewide radio coverage, require less radio towers than are in current use, add capabilities to mobile data terminals, and work with federal legislation to reduce bandwidth or be P-25 compatible by 2018. Wyoming is the second state to switch over to an interoperable radio system; South Dakota was the first. [WYOLink FAQ]

Oakland County, Michigan, police officers and the Michigan State Police (MSP) will soon have the ability to identify suspects from their mobile computers in the field. A new agreement will allow the MSP and the Oakland County-based Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System (CLEMIS) to have access to each other's fingerprint and mug shot databases. The CLEMIS database includes more than 1.3 million criminal mug shots and will add 402,000 MSP records.

The Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute XML Advisory Committee has endorsed Exchange Document Development Process: An Overview, a paper that proposes a basic process to follow when creating Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM)-conformant exchange documents to govern the exchange of data between justice partners at all levels. The process proposed can be used as-is or justice organizations can customize the process to meet their own needs.