NCJRS Catalog


Book Description




A Resource Guide to Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Forensic Technologies


Book Description

This guide provides information to law enforcement, corrections, and forensic science professionals to assist them in evaluating, acquiring, and using equipment and technology. The main body of the guide presents an overview of the technology of most concern to the law enforcement, corrections, and forensic science communities. It contains 19 chapters arranged in four sections. Section I, "Officer Protection and Crime Prevention," contains eight chapters that focus on protective equipment, restraint systems, firearms, less-than-lethal weapons, pursuit management surveillance, offender monitoring/officer location, and concealed weapon and contraband detection. Section II, "Public Safety in Critical Incidents," is composed of three chapters that cover explosives detection and remediation, chemical and biological defense, and transportation infrastructure security. Section III, "Communications and Information Technology," contains five chapters that address communications interoperability, biometric identification, information sharing and analysis, crime mapping, and electronic crime/cybercrime. Section IV, "Investigative and Forensic Sciences," consists of three chapters that focus on crime laboratory assistance, forensic technology research and development, and investigative sciences. Each chapter includes a description of relevant technologies (equipment and devices, software, and related training) available to local law enforcement, corrections, and forensic science professionals and lists the following: potential funding sources, standards and testing, research and development efforts, and sources of further information. Four appendixes provide supplemental information on the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.




Reference Manual to Mitigate Potential Terrorist Attacks Against Buildings


Book Description

The text provides guidance to the building science community of architects and engineers, to reduce physical damage to buildings, related infrastructure, and people caused by terrorist assaults. It presents incremental approaches that can be implemented over time to decrease the vulnerability of buildings to terrorist threats. Many of the recommendations can be implemented quickly and cost-effectively. The manual contains many how-to aspects based upon current information contained in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, General Services Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and other publications. It describes a threat assessment methodology and presents a Building Vulnerability Assessment Checklist to support the assessment process. It also discusses architectural and engineering design considerations, standoff distances, explosive blast, and chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) information. The appendices includes a glossary of CBR definitions as well as general definitions of key terminologies used in the building science security area. The appendices also describe design considerations for electronic security systems and provide a listing of associations and organizations currently working in the building science security area.




Field Detection Technologies for Explosives


Book Description

Field Detection Technologies For Explosives Explosives are historically the weapons that have been most frequently used against civilians by terrorist organisations. In the past few years, the use of explosives by terrorist groups has cost the lives of more people than the combination of all other attacks, including the use of weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological and nuclear weapons). Early detection of these substances is one of the most effective ways to prevent attacks using explosives from occurring. Fast and reliable equipment to detect the presence of explosives and explosive devices is critical to fighting terrorism. Written in a style that makes complicated technologies easy to understand, this book covers the principles, instrumentation and applications of current technologies used to detect explosives in the field. Both trace detection technologies and bulk detection technologies are discussed. The section on trace detection technologies includes chapters on ion mobility spectrometry, piezoelectric sensors, chemiluminescence-based detectors, polymer-based technologies and mass spectrometry. It also discusses detection requirements, methodologies used for detector evaluation, and sampling technologies. The section on bulk detection contains chapters on x-ray, millimeter wave imaging, neutron and nuclear quadrupoie resonance technologies. This volume introduces the basic concepts of commonly used explosives detection technologies and is an essential resource for novice or more experienced personnel working in the explosives detection field as well as those with a general interest in this important subject. Features Discusses all aspects of commonly used field detection technologies. Reviews detection requirements and explosives sampling methods. Describes specific instruments used for field detection applications, such as at airports, harbours and border crossings. Includes a summary of common explosives and their important properties for easy reference. Provides an introduction to data fusion and receiver operating characteristic methods, both of which have recently received significant attention in the field of explosives detection. Book jacket.




Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging


Book Description

Through-the-wall radar imaging (TWRI) allows police, fire and rescue personnel, first responders, and defense forces to detect, identify, classify, and track the whereabouts of humans and moving objects. Electromagnetic waves are considered the most effective at achieving this objective, yet advances in this multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary technology require taking phenomenological issues into consideration and must be based on a solid understanding of the intricacies of EM wave interactions with interior and exterior objects and structures. Providing a broad overview of the myriad factors involved, namely size, weight, mobility, acquisition time, aperture distribution, power, bandwidth, standoff distance, and, most importantly, reliable performance and delivery of accurate information, Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging examines this technology from the algorithmic, modeling, experimentation, and system design perspectives. It begins with coverage of the electromagnetic properties of walls and building materials, and discusses techniques in the design of antenna elements and array configurations, beamforming concepts and issues, and the use of antenna array with collocated and distributed apertures. Detailed chapters discuss several suitable waveforms inverse scattering approaches and revolve around the relevance of physical-based model approaches in TWRI along with theoretical and experimental research in 3D building tomography using microwave remote sensing, high-frequency asymptotic modeling methods, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) techniques, impulse radars, airborne radar imaging of multi-floor buildings strategies for target detection, and detection of concealed targets. The book concludes with a discussion of how the Doppler principle can be used to measure motion at a very fine level of detail. The book provides a deep understanding of the challenges of TWRI, stressing its multidisciplinary and phenomenological nature. The breadth and depth of topics covered presents a highly detailed treatment of this potentially life-saving technology.




Assessment of Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Technology for Detection and Identification of Concealed Explosives and Weapons


Book Description

The security of the U.S. commercial aviation system has been a growing concern since the 1970's when the hijacking of aircraft became a serious problem. Over that period, federal aviation officials have been searching for more effective ways for non-invasive screening of passengers, luggage, and cargo to detect concealed explosives and weapons. To assist in this effort, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) asked the NRC for a study of emerging screening technologies. This report-the third of four-focuses on currently maturing millimeter-wavelength/terahertz imaging and spectroscopy technologies that offer promise in meeting aviation security requirements. The report provides a description of the basic operation of these imaging systems, an assessment of their component technologies, an analysis of various system concepts, and an implementation strategy for deployment of millimeter-wavelength/terahertz technology screening systems.




The Oxford Handbook of Prisons and Imprisonment


Book Description

Research on prisons prior to the prison boom of the 1980s and 1990s focused mainly on inmate subcultures, inmate rights, and sociological interpretations of inmate and guard adaptations to their environment, with qualitative studies and ethnographic methods the norm. In recent years, research has expanded considerably to issues related to inmates' mental health, suicide, managing special types of offenders, risk assessment, and evidence-based treatment programs. The Oxford Handbook of Prisons and Imprisonment provides the only single source that bridges social scientific and behavioral perspectives, providing graduate students with a more comprehensive understanding of the topic, academics with a body of knowledge that will more effectively inform their own research, and practitioners with an overview of evidence-based best practices. Across thirty chapters, leading contributors offer new ideas, critical treatments of substantive topics with theoretical and policy implications, and comprehensive literature reviews that reflect cumulative knowledge on what works and what doesn't. The Handbook covers critical topics in the field, some of which include recent trends in imprisonment, prison gangs, inmate victimization, the use and impact of restrictive housing, unique problems faced by women in prison, special offender populations, risk assessment and treatment effectiveness, prisoner re-entry, and privatization. The Oxford Handbook of Prisons and Imprisonment offers a rich source of information on the current state of institutional corrections around the world, on issues facing both inmates and prison staff, and on how those issues may impede or facilitate the various goals of incarceration.




Non-Imaging Microwave and Millimetre-Wave Sensors for Concealed Object Detection


Book Description

In response to the ever-increasing global threat of terrorist attacks, the personal screening industry has been growing at a rapid rate. Many methods have been developed for detecting concealed weapons and explosives on the human body. In this important new book, the authors discuss their experiences over the last decade designing and testing microwave and millimetre wave detection and screening systems. It includes examples of actual devices that they have built and tested, along with test results that were obtained in realistic scenarios. The book focuses on the development of non-imaging detection systems, which are similar to radar. These systems do not form a conventional image of the scene and the person(s) being screened. Instead, the sensors detect and analyze the effect that the body, and any concealed objects, has on a transmitted waveform. These systems allow remote detection of both metallic and dielectric devices concealed on the human body in both indoor and outdoor environments. The book discusses a number of sensor types, including active millimetre wave sensors using the direct detection and the heterodyne approach, active microwave sensors for CNR-based object detection, passive millimetre wave sensors, and the role of shielding effects in operating non-imaging MM-wave sensors. The goal of this book is to systemize the test results obtained by the authors, helping specialists to develop improved screening systems in the future. Another goal is to show how the use of non-imaging systems can reduce the cost of the screening process.




Computer Vision and Graphics


Book Description

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Vision and Graphics, ICCVG 2012, held in Warsaw, Poland, in September 2012. The 89 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from various submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on computer graphics, computer vision and visual surveillance.