University police use 'high-tech' electronics in law enforcement
Katie Collins, '12 | Staff Reporter
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: News
Besides the endless training, there are resources that the officers use that set them apart from being just security guards. Since 1996, MSC's officers have been allowed to carry firearms. "Before then, society was different; the campuses were different," D'Alessandro says. "The necessity at that point was building. Society was changing," he adds. There have been no instances where officers have used the guns, but D'Alessandro says, "They have them with them, and it's for that purpose you know, if the need arose, for the use of deadly physical force, it would be right there."
If an officer were to ever be involved in what D'Alessandro calls an, "officer involved shooting," the officer would receive counseling. D'Alessandro says, "I don't care who it is, when you go through a traumatic experience like that you need to have available services just so you can talk to someone." D'Alessandro says he would use his contacts in the NYPD who tend to have more experience with "officer involved shootings" or the state police, and even Brother Gregory who is a Chaplin for the New York State Police, to help his officers cope with the traumatic experience.
The officers use Panasonic Toughbooks, which are the same type of computers that American military forces are currently using in Iraq and Afghanistan. D'Alessandro received the Toughbooks through a New York State grant. Toughbooks are used rather than MSC's Thinkpads because, "the level of durability of those computers are phenomenal," D'Alessandro says. The Toughbooks are used for tasks like, statement taking and report writing. D'Alessandro says he got the grant for traffic enforcement, so the officers would, "be able to do accident reports in the car, and also computer and vehicle/traffic citation."
Officers no longer use ink to finger print people, but rather something called, "Live Scan." According to California's attorney general's Web page, Live Scan is technology that "allows digitally scanned fingerprints and related information to be submitted electronically to the Department of Justice within a matter of minutes and allows criminal background checks to be processed usually within 72 hours."
If an officer were to ever be involved in what D'Alessandro calls an, "officer involved shooting," the officer would receive counseling. D'Alessandro says, "I don't care who it is, when you go through a traumatic experience like that you need to have available services just so you can talk to someone." D'Alessandro says he would use his contacts in the NYPD who tend to have more experience with "officer involved shootings" or the state police, and even Brother Gregory who is a Chaplin for the New York State Police, to help his officers cope with the traumatic experience.
The officers use Panasonic Toughbooks, which are the same type of computers that American military forces are currently using in Iraq and Afghanistan. D'Alessandro received the Toughbooks through a New York State grant. Toughbooks are used rather than MSC's Thinkpads because, "the level of durability of those computers are phenomenal," D'Alessandro says. The Toughbooks are used for tasks like, statement taking and report writing. D'Alessandro says he got the grant for traffic enforcement, so the officers would, "be able to do accident reports in the car, and also computer and vehicle/traffic citation."
Officers no longer use ink to finger print people, but rather something called, "Live Scan." According to California's attorney general's Web page, Live Scan is technology that "allows digitally scanned fingerprints and related information to be submitted electronically to the Department of Justice within a matter of minutes and allows criminal background checks to be processed usually within 72 hours."