USA - Washington County to get high-tech gadgets for fight in war on drugs

[Lunar Loops]

This from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Washington County to get high-tech gadgets for fight in war on drugs

Shades of Dick Tracy

Sunday, June 22, 2008
By Janice Crompton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Washington County District Attorney's drug task force is getting new tools to fight the war on drugs, thanks to a federal program that uses advanced technology to combat the drug trade.
A recent grant from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to the drug task force will include more than $100,000 worth of equipment and software, such as computers, forensic technology and a pair of $20,000 night-vision binoculars that can be used during raids or for surveillance of drug dealers.
District Attorney Steve Toprani said his office has received one laptop computer and the binoculars, and is expecting new case management system software, three more laptops with car mounts for use in police vehicles, two desktop computers, 10 new software licenses and a network server.
The package also includes installation, service contracts for two years and training, along with state-of-the-art video and forensics software. Mr. Toprani said he hopes to have the new equipment in use by next month.
"This is the hottest product in law enforcement and we're getting it here," said Mr. Toprani of the video editing and enhancement software.
According to the drug control police, most of the technology has been used by the federal government or military and is being shared now with local law enforcement agencies in an effort to transfer proven law enforcement technologies to support counter drug missions on the state and local level.
"This is military-grade," said Mr. Toprani of the equipment. "This is what the [U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration] uses."
The drug control policy program will use Washington County as a test bed for its Technology Transfer Program, which was expanded in recent years to include a "high impact" element, in which a variety of complementary technologies would be provided to support the needs of multiple agencies.
According to ONDCP Deputy Press Secretary Stephen E. Schatz, Washington County's drug task force was among the agencies chosen for the grant because it supports the investigative needs of multiple local agencies, along with "emerging drug issues" in the local region.
The drug task force includes 27 officers and detectives from police departments throughout the county.
So far this year, the task force has made 26 arrests, compared to 19 in all of 2007, when the program fell under the supervision of former District Attorney John C. Pettit.
Mr. Pettit often caught flak over the less-than- robust arrest rates and sluggish performance of the task force, which had been criticized by municipal leaders, who said they were doing their best to stem local drug trafficking with little county assistance.
When he defeated Mr. Pettit and became district attorney this year, Mr. Toprani said the task force would be one of his top priorities. He expanded the force, raised the salaries of detectives and police officers, and assigned a county-employed detective to oversee the program full time.
The new records management system means the task force can share information among police departments across the county and possibly the state.
Using the county as a test bed will enable the federal government to determine the effectiveness of this type of technology distribution and its ability to enhance information sharing on a local and statewide basis, Mr. Schatz said.
The technology will be used to complement a new computer system recently installed in the district attorney's office that replaced former 1990s-era computers, which didn't include Microsoft Windows software.
"We've actually overhauled all the computers in our office," Mr. Toprani said.
Although county officials have pledged to assist Mr. Toprani in updating the task force as much as possible, the equipment and technology being offered by the ONDCP would have been far out of reach.
"To get that equipment here is unfathomable from our budgeting perspective," Mr. Toprani said. "This is very exciting for us."
The grant also will allow the task force to keep pace with the always-evolving drug trade, Mr. Toprani said.
"It finally puts us ahead of the curve," he said.

[Spyder]

Thanks swiLL.....swiM actually lives in this area, and didn't catch it in the paper.....These new "Toys" always cause these cops to be like kids on Christmas morning.....just anxious to use them, regardless of the outcome.....

SwiS was just posting another thread about his local police and how they just got a brand spankin' new Drug Dog! Now, every traffic stop in his town, where there is a micro-gram of pot is touted as a major accomplishment! And they seem to be using it at every traffic stop they can.....

Unbelieveable.....Just more money that could go to some better cause, like helping people.


Take care.....be careful....they are watching swiUs!! with their shiney new night vision goggles......