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Posts Tagged ‘crime’

This brave new world of free-range felons is highly reliant on technological solutions, but, advocates argue, it would take tremendous strain off a failed prison system into which decent people who’ve fallen afoul of the law (often related to illegal substances) come out of prison hardened, more violent, and with a slew of new friends from their time spent inside. By keeping pettier criminals out of jail, we keep them working, keep them among positive influences like family (a relationship for which the benefits are often reciprocal), and keep them out of trouble.

How does the system keep them out of trouble? The current parole/probation system is also something of a failure, with overworked officers trying to ensure that too many felons keep their noses clean, day in and day out. Technological solutions like the ExacuTrack from Anderson, Indiana-based BI Incorporated can do that automatically. The combination ankle bracelet and GPS transponder (worn on the waist like a cell phone) keeps real-time tabs on its clientele, making sure they do what they’re supposed to do and stay away from places where the state doesn’t want them.

For instance, a parole officer could detail a rigid routine for a free-range prisoner, ensuring he adheres to his work schedule (we’re using the masculine “he” here – in the majority of cases it’s accurate), reports for community service, and stays the hell away from schools or that watering hole down on 2nd Street where the whole trouble started in the first place. Not only that, but the tracking tech can make sure he stays clear of other felons wearing the device, but also from further crime – who would recruit a partner in crime who has a GPS tracker attached to his belt, anyhow?

BI’s technology is already capable of monitoring the free-range felon’s sweat for traces of alcohol use (what’s up, LiLo!) if necessary, but future versions could also monitor for other substances to ensure state charges stay off the hard stuff or on their meds. And as other wireless technologies progress, so too could the monitoring tech, for instance checking for proximity to the kinds of products the "prisoner" has a habit of stealing.

It sounds intrusive, but when citizens are convicted of felonies they do give up some rights. And given that the alternative is to sit in a prison cells, many would likely leap at the option to remain on the outside as a productive, yet partially restricted, member of society. Of course, we’ll always need places to put those citizens that are true menaces to society, but given that American has more than 2 million people wasting away behind bars right now in the U.S. – a population the size of Houston, as Wood points out – the idea of letting our less dangerous criminals walk among us doesn’t seem so bad.

[The Atlantic]

Before they go tearing up the ground in search of a body, authorities often want to be sure about what lies beneath. Typically, tests of soil around a suspected grave site involve extracting samples and shipping them to a lab for testing, which is expensive and time-consuming.

The new system, designed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, consists of a slender probe that can simply be stuck in the ground to pull in air samples. It can even detect bodies buried beneath concrete, as long as you drill a 1/8-inch hole for the probe.

The system involves a small aluminum pipette that can detect trace amounts of a chemical called ninhydrin-reactive nitrogen, which collects in air pockets around a grave site. It's the only known example of testing the chemical in its vapor phase, NIST says. As an added bonus, the system works at ambient temperatures instead of freezing cold, which could make it easy to transport.

Chemists Thomas J. Bruno and Tara M. Lovestead tested it on dead rats, burying some in 3 inches of soil and laying others on top of the soil. For comparison, they also tested boxes with no dead rats in them. The NRN compound was still detectable after nearly five months, the researchers say. A paper on their findings was published in the journal Forensic Science International.

As of now, testing of the air samples still must be done in a lab, but Bruno is working on a portable device that can test for NRN in the field.

One would hope the demand for such technology would be limited, but NIST says it could help law enforcement officials find out where bodies are clandestinely buried.

[PhysOrg]

Starting in October, about 1,200 elementary school children in Anyang City, south of Seoul, will receive matchbox-sized GPS-embedded beepers. The devices can notify authorities of the kids' location and activate surveillance cameras.

The move comes a month after a 44-year-old habitual sex offender was arrested and accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl. That case, as well as other crimes against children, shocked the country and mobilized the government to declare war on child molesters.

The 8-year-old girl was abducted from her school, and officials have stepped up school security in response. After a trial run, the government might expand the GPS devices to the rest of the country, AFP says.

[AFP]

"Damned if you don't" is the situation that seven of Italy's top seismologists now find themselves in -- the scientists face manslaughter charges for failing to predict the April 2009 earthquake that struck the town of L'Aquila in central Italy.

In late March 2009, tremors were recorded in the surrounding region, resulting in a magnitude-4.0 earthquake on March 30. The following day, the seven seismologists were in L'Aquila attending a meeting of the Major Risks Committee, a group that advises Italy's Civil Protection Agency on natural hazards risks. At a press conference following the quake, committee member Bernardo di Bernardinis told reporters, "the scientific community tells us there is no danger, because there is an ongoing discharge of energy. The situation looks favorable." But on April 6, a magnitude-6.3 quake struck, killing more than 300 people and leaving about 65,000 homeless.

Local citizens claimed they had been planning to leave their homes after the smaller quake, but had changed their minds after the committee's comments. In August 2009, the citizens filed a formal request for investigation, and earlier this month the chief prosecutor stated that his office had enough information to indict the individuals named in the case.

Nearly 4,000 researchers around the world have come to the seismologists' defense, signing a letter to Italy's president, Giorgio Napolitano, urging him to compel decision makers to focus on hazards mitigation and earthquake preparedness rather than holding scientists responsible for doing something that is not yet possible. Despite extensive research efforts by seismologists in recent decades, earthquakes cannot yet be accurately predicted to occur on a specific day, or even in a specific month.

“We can tie blood spatter on pit walls and clothing, or blood trails found outside of the pit, to a specific dog and tell his story for him,” says Beth Wictum, director of the forensics unit of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory in at the University of California-Davis veterinary school, in a press release. “We become the voice for those victims.”

The Canine Combined DNA Index System, or Canine CODIS, includes more DNA markers than are normally tested, allowing for better comparisons. That provides more power when calculating match probability, which is then used in criminal proceedings. The database will be maintained at UC-Davis, and law enforcement agencies will be able to pay a fee to have dog DNA analyzed and matched.

Blood collected from dog fighting sites will also be checked against the database to identify the animals, UC Davis says.

The canine CODIS is similar to the human one, which law enforcement officials use to match suspects to DNA profiles found at crime scenes.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society of Missouri and the Louisiana SPCA established the database using DNA from dogs seized in investigations, along with unidentified samples collected at dog-fighting venues.

It includes DNA from dogs seized in a massive raid near St. Louis last year, the largest in the country. More than 400 dogs were seized after an 18-month investigation and more than two dozen people in Missouri and Illinois were arrested.

PhysOrg

Someone has not been doing his or her civic, um, duty and picking up Fido's waste, leaving messes all over the ritzy condo grounds, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Members of the condo board want to find out who's responsible, so they're turning to the same technology used to connect suspects to crime scenes and to prove paternity.

Under the proposal, every dog who lives at the condo and all visiting dogs would get a cheek swab so their DNA could be tested. Condo residents who own dogs would have to fork over $50 to cover the costs of sending poo samples to a lab. If wayward doggie doo matches a specific dog, the culprit's owner would face a $500 fine.

The point is to encourage residents to pick up after their pets, says Steve Frans, the board member who came up with the idea, according to the Sun.

"Some people think it's funny. But you know, this seems to be a reasonable, objective way to say, 'This is your poop, you're responsible,'" he said.

The Sun notes that some condo residents have been "muttering a lot about Big Brother and draconian measures."

[Baltimore Sun]