Internet solution for law enforcement

Has anyone seen this yet?  Looks like it's two weeks old.  Internet Police!

>[BizWire]    5/20/96
>
>        (SUN/PSI-INTL)(SUNW) PSI International, Sun partner, unveils Java-
>        based Internet solution for law enforcement agencies; "Internet in
>        Blue" Police Internet/Intranet Application Suite Available in July
>        1996 
>        
>          Business Editors/Computer Writers
>        
>        Highlights:
>            -- Internet in Blue, one of the first Java-based solutions aimed
>        at fighting crime, is being introduced by PSI International, a
>        strategic partner of Sun Microsystems Federal, and includes other
>        Sun products.  
>        
>            -- Internet in Blue combines the power of Java and Netra servers
>        to enable law enforcement agencies and police departments to quickly
>        leverage the capabilities of the Internet and intranets.  
>        
>            -- This solution is the latest evidence of Sun taking advantage
>        of the significant market opportunity for crime prevention
>        technology.  Last year, Sun Federal announced a dedicated Criminal
>        Justice Operation, which is working with police departments and law
>        enforcement agencies around the world to help them use technology in
>        fighting crime.  
>        
>            MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- May 20, 1996--One of
>        the first Sun(TM) Java(TM)-based solutions aimed at fighting crime
>        was introduced today by PSI International, a strategic partner of
>        Sun Microsystems Federal, a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc.  
>        
>            Called Internet in Blue(TM), the solution combines the power of
>        Sun's Java technology, its Netra(TM) Internet servers, its Java
>        WorkShop(TM) development tools, and PSI's relational database
>        software. This solution fully leverages the capabilities of the
>        Internet for the benefit of law enforcement agencies because of the
>        inclusion of Java, the revolutionary Internet platform from Sun that
>        makes possible fast, easy, operating-system-independent use of the
>        Internet.  
>        
>            To be offered by PSI, Internet in Blue will enable police
>        departments and other law enforcement agencies to leverage the
>        latest Internet technology to fight crime and promote citizen
>        involvement and community-based policing.  From a citizen's
>        perspective, having a local police force with an Internet presence
>        gives people the opportunity to report problems online and play a
>        more active role in fighting crime in their neighborhoods.  
>        
>            Besides utilizing the Internet, the PSI solution also allows
>        local police to build an "intranet," which is a greatly enhanced
>        internal information network to handle departmental processes as
>        well as to speedily access any internal database of interest.
>        Examples of these databases include local crime data such as
>        patterns of crimes, gang affiliations, data on previous suspects and
>        arrests.  Currently, many police departments must locate such data
>        via a paper trail, which is very inefficient.  
>        
>            "Law enforcement agencies are quickly realizing the power of the
>        Internet and intranets as strategic tools in fighting crime," said
>        John Marselle, president of Sun Microsystems Federal.  "The Internet
>        in Blue solution from PSI -- based on Sun technology -- takes
>        advantage of Java's security features, platform independence and
>        database access capabilities.  It should make it much easier for
>        police departments and other criminal justice organizations to get
>        online and to leverage the capabilities of the network."  
>        
>            With Java WorkShop, a visual development environment for Java
>        that can be included as part of the Internet in Blue solution,
>        police departments can design, test, deploy and maintain Internet
>        and intranet applications based on Java with speed and simplicity.
>        Java WorkShop runs on the Sun Solaris(TM) environment and Windows
>        95/NT.  Using Java, the PSIBase relational database management
>        system can access Web browsers across any hardware platform.  
>        
>            "The Internet is the next frontier in the development of law
>        enforcement information systems," said Paul Wormeli, program
>        director for law enforcement at PSI.  "Our Internet in Blue solution
>        will enable law enforcement agencies to quickly exploit the latest
>        technologies like Java."  
>        
>        Internet in Blue includes the following:
>        
>            A starter kit with a Sun Netra Internet server and PSI software
>        and services needed to set up a site on the World Wide Web, as well
>        as technical assistance from PSI for developing content and training
>        for a Webmaster.  
>        
>            A full set of applications to create a police intranet providing
>        secure internal access to selected crime information, standard
>        operating police procedures and other infrastructure services.  
>        
>            An interactive, community-based communications medium to
>        facilitate crime reporting over the Internet and community-based
>        policing.  
>        
>            Suggestions for services that law enforcement agencies can
>        develop in order to offset the cost of the Internet project, such as
>        providing online crime reports and accident report information to
>        authorized outside organizations including legal firms and insurance
>        companies.  -0-
>        
>            The Internet in Blue product will be available in July, 1996.
>        Pricing will vary depending on customer needs.  
>        
>            PSI International, Inc. has provided systems integration and
>        services for over 14 years to federal, state and local governments.
>        The company specializes in law enforcement and public safety
>        solutions, consulting services, and integration of software and
>        hardware.  With a staff of over 250 professionals in the information
>        system and services industry, PSI has a team of people that have
>        both technical and industry knowledge of public safety and justice
>        applications, including computer aided dispatch, records and
>        investigative management, imaging, telecommunications, and mobile
>        computing.  
>        
>            Sun Microsystems Federal, Inc., headquartered in Vienna,
>        Virginia, is a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc.  Sun Federal's
>        charter is to develop, deliver and sustain markets for Sun products
>        in governments worldwide.  
>        
>            With annual revenues of $6 billion, Sun Microsystems, Inc.,
>        provides solutions that enable customers to build and maintain open
>        network computing environments.  Widely recognized as a proponent of
>        open standards, the company is involved in the design, manufacture
>        and sale of products, technologies and services for commercial and
>        technical computing.  Sun's SPARC(TM) workstations, multiprocessing
>        servers, SPARC microprocessors, Solaris(Tm) operating software and
>        ISO-certified service organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX(TM)
>        industry.  Founded in 1982, Sun is headquartered in Mountain View,
>        Calif., and employs more than 16,000 people worldwide.  -0-
>        
>            Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Java, Java
>        Workshop, Netra and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks
>        of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other
>        countries.  All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are
>        trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in
>        the United States and other countries.  Products bearing SPARC
>        trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun
>        Microsystems, Inc.  UNIX is a registered trademark in the United
>        States and other countries exclusively licensed through X/Open
>        Company, Ltd.  
>        
>            Internet in Blue is a trademark of PSI, International and is
>        properly written in boldface italics, all lower case.  
>        
>            Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems
>        are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web using a tool
>        such as Netscape or NCSA Mosaic.  Type http://www.sun.com at the URL
>        prompt.  
>        
>        --30--css/sf*
>        
>        CONTACT: Burson-Marsteller (for Sun)
>                 Jane Rauckhorst, 212/614-4880
>                     or
>                 PSI International
>                 Martha Hill, 703/352-8700
>        
>        KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
>            INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED
>        INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET PRODUCT GOVERNMENT
>        
>         REPEATS: New York 212-752-9600 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-236-4266
>        or 800-225-2030; SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845; LA 310-820-9473 BW
>        URL: http://www.businesswire.com
>

caal@hopf.dnai.com writes:
 > Has anyone seen this yet?  Looks like it's two weeks old.  Internet Police!

Hey, I went into the local New York State Police station and asked if
they had email.  The answer is basically "No."  They've got something
like a telex system.  I doubt that they're any encryption on their
data services.  You'd think that police department RADIOS would at
least be encrypted!  Thanks, TLAs, for your crime encouraging efforts.
[ TLA lurkers should have the grace to wince at that. ]

-russ <nelson@crynwr.com>    http://www.crynwr.com/~nelson
Crynwr Software   | Crynwr Software sells packet driver support | PGP ok
11 Grant St.      | +1 315 268 1925 voice | It's no mistake to err on
Potsdam, NY 13676 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX   | the side of freedom.

Russ Crynwr writes:

> Hey, I went into the local New York State Police station and asked if
> they had email.  The answer is basically "No."  They've got something
> like a telex system.  I doubt that they're any encryption on their
> data services.  You'd think that police department RADIOS would at
> least be encrypted!  Thanks, TLAs, for your crime encouraging efforts.
> [ TLA lurkers should have the grace to wince at that. ]

	Actually there is quite a strong school of thought that holds
that police should be discouraged from using hard encryption on their
radios because that makes it impossible for the media and public to keep
an eye on them to make sure that they are on the up and up.  Remember 
that policeman carry guns and have wide discression in what they can do
in many situations, especially in short term immediate situations. And
quite a few are not well educated or terribly bright. And most members
of the general public are inclined to believe the word of police rather
than some random citizen.
 
	A hard encrypted police radio system restricts public
information about police activities largely to what the police chooses
to voluntarily reveal to the media - and given the self promoting
political games, corruption, fabrication of evidence, brutality, racism
and plain stupidity that characterize all too many police departments
that often is not enough and very very self serving.  Leaving police
radio communications at least mostly open allows the media and curious
citizens to follow and observe police actions and have enough knowlage
of what went on to ask the hard questions and be witnesses to the
actual events.

	Many police radio systems have been deliberately left open in
recent years even as digital DES based technology has become practical and
somewhat affordable and widely installed.  Lots of police departments
have agreed or been forced to not encrypt anything but sensitive
undercover surveillance related coms, and certain tactical coms in
crisis situations such as hostage takings.  (It still remains also true,
however, that digital voice radios systems have less range, penetrating
power and more unpredictable outages and dead spots than good old analog
fm systems do so there is an added benefit to not using encryption).

	And most police officers seem to believe that allowing the
public to listen to their communications is a net plus - there are
apparently few known instances of criminals making particularly
effective use of scanners to thwart the police and lots of instances of
citizens spotting suspects and other suspicious activities and informing
the police because they knew they were interested from what they
overheard listening to a scanner.
                  
	As for police digital communications (the so called MDT
terminals installed in many police cruisers) - the older and larger city
systems installed mostly by big companies such as Motorola use feeble or
non existant encryption and can be readily intercepted by a slightly
modified scanner (using radio shack parts) and a PC with suitable
software (though the baud rates are odd, the data format synchronous
rather than start-stop async, the messages mostly sent in the form of
packed codewords in some BCH or Reed Soloman error correcting code with
the data bits strangely distributed in the codeword for best error
immunity, and the actual data a hodgepodge mixture of ASCII text and
binary screen formating and control characters).

	The MDT systems installed in smaller towns and more recently by
a small company founded by a former colleague of mine (K1EA) that use
standard laptops instead of proprietary terminals do use single DES
encryption (my pro-crypto rantings on slow afternoons many years ago may
have had some effect). I don't know how good the key management is - I
keep meaning to ask Ken the next time I see him at a hamfest - but at
least the data is not sitting there for the taking by anyone with a PC,
a scanner, and some reasonably straightforward DOS software.

	I have been told that interconnecting non secure digital terminal
systems with the various federal and state criminal data base systems
such as NCIC and its successors that contain sensitive non public information
such as criminal histories and arrest records is supposed to be illegal.
It is not clear how completely this rule is observed.
                                                        
	Crypto in the real world raises some interesting issues - the
nazis or fascists in the evil sense in the future will certainly make
very effective use of it to do evil.

							Dave Emery
							die@die.com

On Fri, 7 Jun 1996 caal@hopf.dnai.com wrote:

> Has anyone seen this yet?  Looks like it's two weeks old.  Internet Police!
> 
> >[BizWire]    5/20/96
> >
> >        (SUN/PSI-INTL)(SUNW) PSI International, Sun partner, unveils Java-
> >        based Internet solution for law enforcement agencies; "Internet in
> >        Blue" Police Internet/Intranet Application Suite Available in July
> >        1996 

Is this a joke, or has the world gone completely batty?

-rich

It appears that someone has figured out that medium-sized jurisdictions 
don't want to be left out of the trendiness. And has put together a 
product that can be peddled at the trade shows where Police Chiefs go.

I recall reading that there's something like 25,000 different police 
departments in America. It's a sizeable market. And a very politically 
correct one, right now.

Do these managers _need_ this stuff? Well, did they _need_ all those 
black-ninja hollywood flavored SWAT uniforms?

Now, if they could just get a few more PC-of-the-month phraseologies into 
the title of their product, they'd sell twice as many.  Start with 
"anti-deadbeat-dad software", maybe. "Pro Diversity". "Environmentally 
Friendly Software".

Is America great, or what?

On Fri, 7 Jun 1996, Rich Graves wrote:
> On Fri, 7 Jun 1996 caal@hopf.dnai.com wrote:
> > Has anyone seen this yet?  Looks like it's two weeks old.  Internet Police!
> > >[BizWire]    5/20/96
> > >        (SUN/PSI-INTL)(SUNW) PSI International, Sun partner, unveils Java-
> > >        based Internet solution for law enforcement agencies; "Internet in
> > >        Blue" Police Internet/Intranet Application Suite Available in July
> > >        1996 
> 
> Is this a joke, or has the world gone completely batty?

	Is this an exclusive-or?

Petro, Christopher C.
petro@suba.com <prefered for any non-list stuff>
snow@crash.suba.com