This story was on NECN (see video) about license plate scanning technology being used in New Haven police vehicles. The technology consists of a video scanner that can passively read thousands of license plates per hour, when a police vehicle is either moving or parked by the side of the road. Th...
Governor Rell just signed a law closing a loophole in Connecticut's Sex Offender Laws. The new law makes it more difficult for a registered sex offender in Connecticut to change his or her name. A person must now declare the reason and intent for the name change to the courts, and the commissione...
Governor Jodi Rell signed a new hate crimes law that makes it a criminal charge in Connecticut to display a noose as a means of harassing or threatening someone. The new law will go into effect on October 1, 2008 and was supported unanimously by the state legislature as well as the Division of Cr...
The picture from this article, which shows the Connecticut chapter of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) at a Crime Victims Awareness event says a lot about how influential this lobbying group has become. MADD is pictured with Connecticut's Attorney General, police officers and Connecticut stat...
A new private company in Connecticut is providing high tech background searches, fingerprinting and biometric information analysis to government agencies and private companies. More private employers will continue to do extensive research into potential hires as these technologies become cheaper ...
Governor Rell may veto the crime bill, thought to be a signature achievement of the administration, for budgetary reasons. The proposed would toughen criminal sentences for some violent crimes in the wake of some recent high profile home invasions and murders in Connecticut. But the sticking poin...
The Connecticut State Senate has been working on enhancements and new laws to toughen penalties for violent crimes, as well as provide additional funding for law enforcement activities. Under the propose legislation, multiple offense violent crime maximum penalties would automatically double for ...
In the news recently are proposed Connecticut laws encouraging voluntary use of breathalysers in restaurants and bars, and new uses for breathalysers in schools. The bars proposal would be voluntary for patrons to test themselves, under the condition that the evidence is not used against them. Th...
There are three separate proposed laws in the Connecticut legislature that would enact a “so-called” three strikes law. The bills, working their way through the Connecticut lawmaking progress, would require a person convicted of 3 separate violent felonies to be sentenced to life in prison. It wo...
Connecticut lawmakers, and Governor Jodi Rell have proposed changes to how criminal justice is administered in the state. Among the reforms proposed are: Improved Criminal Lineup and Identification Procedures. Witnesses should be provided with improved lineup arrays, where the officers adminis...
According to this editorial, new drunk driving law proposals include: Mandatory 1 year license suspensions and substance abuse training programs for anyone 16 or 17 years old who is arrested (not even convicted?) of drunk driving. Additional unspecified tightening of “loopholes” in per se ad...
All criminal and traffic convictions in Connecticut are now posted online for free and easy access. Criminal records have always been public records, but in the past it's been something of a bureaucratic challenge for most people to dig them up. But know I am entering an era where this kind of in...
Police are increasingly using automatic license plate scanning technology to run checks on every car they see. In this article, New Haven has been using it to locate stolen cars and those who owe back taxes. But this technology is readily adaptable for any kind of database search or background ch...
Article suggests stronger DWI enforcement over the holidays, and greater cooperation on DUI arrests between Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
There is a feature on SCRAM bracelets in today's Hartford Courant. Scram stands for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor. These bracelets detect alcohol levels in a person's body. They are becoming popular in many states as a substitute for jail time, or a condition of probation for alcohol o...
