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September 2005 |
Hi Tech Criminal Justice Newsletter
Providing online educational resources for criminal justice
practitioners
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In the September issue we continue with the themes of leadership and
technology. Don't miss the information in the article on "Who has
your Number?"
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Morale: Whose Job is it anyway? |
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Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA |
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Small Unit Leadership; Part 3 of 12
Karl Von Clausewitz, a Prussian military general and military theorist,
identified morale as a fundamental military principle. Since Clausewitz
published On War morale has developed into a concept seen as critical
to organizations, including law enforcement.
Unfortunately, morale is difficult to define and in many circles has
become somewhat synonymous with motivation. In this article we will look
at a very different definition of morale, its potential effects and how
the first line supervisor can affect it.
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Who has Your Number? |
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Staff |
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Information about law enforcement officers readily available Online
The Internet is a double edge sword for law enforcement officials.
Public records and commercial information has long been used as an
investigatory tool by police officers. But, in the past you had to
ferret out the information. Trips to court, county hall of records or to
the backwards book would give you access to a suspects personal
information. Now, that information is readily available online.
Except, so is information about police officers.
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Felons foiled by virtual CSI |
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Jimmy Lee Shreeve |
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Police are using sophisticated laser scanning techniques to create virtual
reconstructions of crime scenes - helping detectives solve difficult cases
and juries make more informed decisions.
The hugely popular U.S. television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
has often been slammed by real life police investigators for being too
far fetched - stretching the facts as well as the science. In truth,
investigating crime scenes is far from glamorous and involves a good
deal of painstaking "plod" work. But it is getting decidedly hi- tech,
especially in more complex cases.
One of the key technologies increasingly being used today by police
is laser scanning, a technique that creates highly accurate 3-D
reconstructions of crime scenes. These reconstructions can be viewed on
large plasma computer monitors and can even be explored from different
angles and points-of-view - much as you can in computer games.
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Cop Cars: From Buck Boards to Buck Rodgers |
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Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA |
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Cops are constantly adapting their equipment to the environment. Our kit
bags have grown larger and larger as we collected equipment to deal with
the job. Our departments gives us the basics and as we face new
situations we think about what we could have used as a tool to have made
the task easier. Then, we go out and get that tool for next time.
Much of the commercially produced police equipment used by our peers
today was developed on the fly by those who walked the beat before us.
The concept of the cruiser as a mobile office was developed by those of
us who worked long shifts and thought What could be added to this car
to make my job easier? Make me more comfortable? Help me to hunt down
dangerous offenders?
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Technology on the Job |
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Staff |
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NIJ videos available online
The Technology on the Job video provides a look at some of the
technologies undergoing research, development, and testing by the
National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The technologies presented in this
video include video evidence analysis, thermal imaging, geographic
information systems, communications interoperability, bullet-resistant
vests, and DNA evidence. The video also includes a brief discussion of
the NLECTC system. The video is approximately 30 minutes long and is
presented here in seven segments. Follow the hyperlink below to view the
seven segments on your personal computer, or to request a copy of the
video, please contact the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
at 800-851-3420.
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Contact Information
phone: 909 599 7530
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