U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Orlando wants to give law enforcement the edge when trying to capture dangerous fugitives.
So on Thursday, he proposed allowing limited deployment of "sense-through-the-wall technology" developed for use by the military to help
deputized federal agents with a warrant determine if a fugitive is hiding inside a building.
That technology could include hand-held radar or heat-detecting devices.
Nelson's proposal follows the shootings of 11 police officers in five incidents nationwide since Sunday. Among those were the fatal shootings of two officers in Miami and two in St. Petersburg who were trying to arrest fugitives.
Initial reaction to his proposal has been positive within the Florida law enforcement community.
Palm Bay Police Chief William Berger, who is in line to become U.S. marshal for the Middle District of Florida, said he is “in full support of Senator Nelson’s attempt to give us some tools to do the job better.”
Berger said he believes the technology would be useful to law enforcement, allowing officers to take precautionary measures when they are trying to determine how many fugitives are in a building and where they are.
Amy Mercer, executive director of the Florida Police Chiefs Association, said her association “would be supportive of anything that would be protective of our officers. With the loss of lives we’ve had in the past week, it’s an extremely dangerous time out there for our officers.”
Steve Wilkinson, division commander at the West Melbourne Police Department, said police “always need any advantage we can get” in pursuing criminals.
“I don’t know any law enforcement officer who wouldn’t be for being able to use a device like this if it is used properly,” Wilkinson said, adding that it could help save the lives of both law enforcement officers and innocent civilians.
Palm Bay Deputy Police Chief Doug Muldoon also supports the idea, saying his department backs technology that would help officers do their job “safer, smarter or more efficiently.”
One such technology that could be deployed is a radar-based system developed in Orlando by CyTerra Corp., a unit of defense contractor L3 Communication. In September, CyTerra rolled out a version of its system targeted to the law enforcement market, which is being tested by police agencies throughout the country.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Nelson cited the Army’s plan to purchase more than 9,000 detectors over the next three years and asked whether the new technologies should be among the tools provided to agents of federal task forces when they have warrants to apprehend felons considered armed and dangerous.
Nelson said the use of such technologies “could greatly shift the odds to the good guys, before they have to enter a building where a fugitive is hiding out. We should arm our law enforcement with the tools that they need to protect themselves.”
Nelson asked the Justice Department to consider the matter during its review of the recent attacks on law enforcement officers around the country, and said he would be willing to sponsor legislation in the U.S. Senate to create a pilot program.
Florida is one of the areas of the country where the U.S. Marshals Service set up fugitive task forces combining federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to find dangerous fugitives and assist in high-profile investigations.
Nelson contends that the limited use of the technology would pose no privacy concerns because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled such devices can’t be employed without a warrant.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110128/NEWS01/101280319/1006/rss01
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