Swipe an identification badge and a computer matches your photo and fingerprint to a database. Storm a cellblock in real-time with your teammates from a computer workstation. Beam audio and video information from a hand-held flashlight.

This is no movie, this is corrections.

In the last few years, information sharing in particular has become the focus for state and local agencies to ensure that they can talk to each other and work together.

"So much of what you hear these days is about connecting the dots in a law enforcement world. We have spent more time and more resources trying to connect those dots than probably doing anything else," said Tom Merkel of Hennepin County, Minn., Sheriff's Office.

In Hennepin County, officials are in the process of creating a multi-faceted data sharing system that will connect information gathered from the road to the jail to other agencies.

"Every [agency] has its own set of information that they use, we [just] have trouble moving it from side to side," he said. Merkel said information could be shared between county human services agencies, health departments, law enforcement, the jail, the courts and other organizations that work with the same clientele.

"Historically we probably have not done a great job of sharing that information and not knowing from agency to agency if these people were being seen by the various entities," he said.

But now Hennepin County is working to change all that.

It is a pilot agency for a biometrics identification system that uses fingerprints to identify individuals from squad cars in the field and in the jail. The individuals are matched against a database of offenders already known by the department.

Merkel said that the information sharing doesn't have to stop there. Sheriff's offices can share telephone logs and cross-reference them to employee numbers or to information about individuals who deposit money into offenders' accounts, which can be compared to existing databases and visitor information can be matched as well.

In addition to data sharing, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is also testing a records management system that, once up and running, will include Global Positioning Satellite technology and will be connected to the jail database.

"If you are looking for a particular person in a neighborhood, you can search various databases," said Henkel.

While information sharing is a hot topic among corrections and law enforcement, agencies may find these systems to be beyond their budgets.

But even though jails and county sheriffs typically have trouble affording such high-tech systems, some agencies have been able to access the technology by participating in pilots and demonstrations for the government.

Biometrics Testing in Prince George's County

A combination of proximity to the nation's capital and a genuine interest in high technology has helped Prince George's County Corrections Department connect to a demonstration project being done for the National Institute of Justice.

The project, soon to start its second phase, involves testing biometrics technology to use in identifying individuals in the jail.

The project began a few years ago and will continue in the next few weeks with a new generation of the technology that will, hopefully, have better accuracy than the first technology tested.

Joe Dabay, Information Services Manager for the department of corrections, said initially jail officials were concerned that they would not be able to identify employees in the jails in the case of a hostage taking. Biometrics technology, they thought, would help.

"We partnered with the NIJ and a military base to develop it and NIJ funded an interoperability project where employees could be verified coming in and out of the building. Now, given a terrorist attack if anyone left in the building, we would know who it is," said Dabay.

The technology provided by NIJ for testing was a system that would take an employee's or offender's picture, verify and identify the identity by comparing it to an existing database of pictures, print a badge for me that could be worn around the neck and held to a card reader. Each time the card is swiped into the reader, the system logs the individual in and compares the live picture to the database.

"If I gave my card to a coworker, it would pull my picture and compare the picture and bells would go off and the officers would challenge the employee. Perhaps it's an ex-employee or a bogus access," said Dabay.

In the original testing done by Prince George's County DOC, a few problems were identified in terms of false negatives. Operationally, however, the system worked well, Dabay said.

"The technology was three years old and it has advanced quite a bit. [Then] we were coming up with false negatives. [For example], every day it would recognize me then one week it would only recognize me at a lower threshold [for accuracy]," he said.

Starting this week, the corrections department is scheduled to receive a new system that uses different algorithms for testing that officials expect will take care of those problems. This testing project should last about a year, Dabay said, and they hope to make good use of it once it is installed.

"We've designed our reception area around this system. It improved security coming in and out. It's a safer facility and community and provides a roster for us, which is going to be key," Dabay said.

It's a long way from the old days when corrections officials used to count cars in the parking lot to identify what employees were inside during an emergency.

Officials also hope to expand the system to include visitation to help verify who is coming in and out of the facility from the community.

"The limitations are only by us. We could share these mug shots and share that with other agencies," he said.

The NIJ is also working with other agencies to test technologies with application to corrections.

Training Technologies Come to Jails

Corrections officials may soon see simulation training become available for officers that will help them prepare for emergencies and disasters.

According to NIJ Program Specialist Rob Donlin, a new product called Incident Commander should be available to corrections and public safety agencies soon.

Incident Commander is a video simulation trainer that provides three or four scenarios for tabletop exercises using information downloaded from the web and provides exact locations using GPS.

"It shows evacuation routes to practice and your entry routes as well. Also [it shows] the kind of places you need to station personnel, such as highway patrol or ambulances so it something does happen, you are prepared," said Donlin.

He added that the technology would be available for free from the Internet and training will be conducted via the web as well.

At the National Corrections and Law Enforcement Training and Technology Center, which hosts the annual Mock Riot and Mock Disaster for law enforcement and corrections, officials will also see a new training simulation system.

According to Steve Morrison, VP Public Safety and Homeland Security for the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, which oversees OLETC and the NCLETTC at the Moundsville Center, the trainer is brand new and won't be seen anywhere else other than in the military.

The system, called SVS, is built by Reality Response - a division of Advanced Interactive Systems.

"It's a virtual reality trainer. We have a proposal to do this for corrections, jails and prisons," Morrison said.

Officials have mapped the Moundsville Center and the former penitentiary there (which is used for training) in virtual reality and the scenarios from the system will take place in these mapped locations.

"You can see the texture on the walls, the building. It feels like you're there from each computer station. It is the 'battle master' who controls the scenarios and throws in wrinkles to the scenarios," said Morrison.

He added that he system will allow participants in the virtual reality training to use the mouse to "click" on a victim, for example, to determine the subject's vital signs.

The system also provides authoring capabilities so that scenarios can reflect different aspects of training that a team would need. In addition to providing a battle master control, the system also offers an after-action review tool to look back at a team's or individual's performance during a training scenario.

"We're using it for first responders right now," Morrison said, adding that it certainly has applicability to the corrections environment. "SVS is a state-of-the-art high fidelity, first person simulation software."

The technology will be demonstrated at this year's Mock Riot at the Moundsville Center.

Also on the horizon and being currently tested through NIJ is a wireless biometrics system that can help corrections and law enforcement with inmate counts by matching a fingerprint to an existing database.

"An inmate puts his finger on the portable unit and within four seconds its transmitted back to the computer and is sent back to give verification. We have alpha tested and will beta test with Cumberland County, [Maryland]," said Donlin.

Donlin said that the technology could be used in other applications within corrections as well, such as distributing medications to ensure they go to the correct individual, or in a cafeteria setting to make sure offenders are only served once, as part of a canteen system for offenders or used at the front gate to identify those entering the facility.

He added that the portable unit is seven inches by seven inches and can be moved easily throughout a facility for multiple tasks.

There are other technologies that corrections officials may also want to pay attention to in the coming months including a new combination facial recognition/automated fingerprint information system by BlueBear Network and CamLite a mobile wireless audio-video system housed inside a flashlight, which has been used by the Clackamas County, Ore, Sheriff's department and the L.A. County Sheriff's Office.

These and other emerging technologies may help corrections officers and staff communicate better, have more information at their fingertips and improve public safety and facility safety as they come into use.

Resources:

Robert Donlin, NLECTC- South East
donlin@nlectc-se.org

National Corrections and Law Enforcement Training and Technology Center   http://www.nclettc.org/index2.htm

Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization
http://www.oletc.org/