Feature articles address police agencies' use of real-time crime centers (RTCCs) to harness multiple sources of information in facilitating emergency response and crime solving; expansion of training for bomb squads and their technicians; the use of body-worn cameras for the emergency- response team in a county detention center; and a pilot program app tipline for teens in North Carolina schools to provide anonymous tips to school resource officers and school administrators on school-safety matters.
"Real-Time Crime Center Serves as Force Multiplier" focuses on the Houston Police Department's (HPD's) use of a real-time crime center (RTCC), which has been operating since 2008. Twenty-two officers and 10 civilian criminal intelligence analysts are authorized to use the system to access multiple information sources that might be useful at an emergency call or in an investigation. "Federal Bureau of Investigation Hazardous Devices School Expands Training Program" profiles the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Hazardous Device School (HDS) in Huntsville, AL, which recently launched an expanded program of regional trainings for bomb squads and their technicians, so as to facilitate the scheduling of such training for law enforcement agencies. The HDS is the only national entity that trains and certifies bomb technicians in explosive ordinance disposal procedures. "Correctional Officers Using Body-Worn Cameras" focuses on their use in recording interactions between staff and inmates during emergency responses in a Maryland county detention center. The Prince George's County Department of Corrections purchased 40 such cameras in 2015 for $104,939, using grant funds from the State and the U.S. Department of Justice. The cameras are used by the facility's emergency response team. "App Allows Students to Report Concerns Anonymously" profiles a pilot program in North Carolina schools intended to facilitate students' anonymous reporting of school-safety issues to appropriate school officials.