The Thick Blue Line

That’s what critics are calling the New Zealand police academy graduates today.

It started a few years ago when recruiters began lower the requirements for new police hires. The standards were lowered to the degree that training has had to include teaching the alphabet. Other recruits needed seven tries to pass certain exams and only then with lots of coaching.

But tests and exams aren’t all it takes to make a good cop, Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope points out.

"Policing is more than just an academic tick-pass, it's competency across a whole range of on-the-job experiences,” he said.

True, but those proficiencies aren’t being met, either. Recent graduates are not qualified to drive a car at speed or carry a firearm and some cannot meet the physical fitness standards.

In defense of the force, officials point out that the highly intelligent graduates are being overlooked. Nevertheless, the whole process is under review and New Zealand may see a rise in standards soon.

Protecting the Protectors

Good on you, Tom and Gloria Kellerhal!

The Kellerhals own The Westminister Group, a recruiting company in Chester, SC. When one of their employees, Tiffany Thomasson, came to them to ask for an advance so she could buy her policeman husband a bullet-proof vest they started asking questions. They were surprised to learn the most of the local force did have what many might assume would be standard protection. They decided to do something about it.

What started with a request for an advance has turned into a full on drive to raise $12,000 by July 21 to buy 15 vests.

We wish them good luck.

Embracing the CSI Effect

You’ve heard of the CSI Effect, right? It’s that expectation in today’s juror’s minds that crimes will be presented to them in the same slick, overproduced way that TV cop shows like CSI do it. In fact, prosecutors are starting to recognize that in close cases, the side with the sexiest technology is often the winner.

It might not be long before jurors start getting what they expect. With a combination of new and old technologies, police and prosecutors are getting closer to being able to reproduce 3D digital images of the crime scenes with astonishing detail.

The old technology at work here is something that land surveyors have been using for years. If you’ve ever seeing them at work, you’ve seen surveyors peering through some sort of contraption atop a tripod. The machines they use today are called total stations and they can measure distances and angles with remarkable accuracy. Total stations, when used with a computer, can produce a 3D recreation of whatever it’s looking at, in this case, a crime scene.

It might be a while before jurors are treated to slow motion images of poison entering the blood stream or video, complete with haunting music, of the victim’s last poignant moments, but 3D images of the crime scene, besides being way cool, can go a long way to giving them an understanding of the crime.

And who knows, “Land Surveyors: Miami” may just show up on NBC’s line up this fall.

Picking Apart Pinnacle

The controversy over Pinnacle’s Dragon Skin Armor has heated up considerably since my earlier post about it. Army officials were obviously frustrated by a TV report that more than implied they, by not providing soldiers with Dragon Skin, were denying them the best possible body armor. Not so, the Army maintained, in what can only be seen as a retaliatory presentation. And the Air Force is having second thoughts about the armor despite having bought it in the past.

So, Congress has stepped in. The House Armed Services Committee heard testimony last week from the Army and Murray Neal, head of Pinnacle. I watched as much as I could on C-Span over the weekend. I missed Mr. Neal’s comments but saw what the Army had to say and they presented a pretty compelling case. You can listen to the entire testimony for yourself: Opening Statements – Part 1 – Part 2. See links to the pdfs of the participants' statements at the bottom.

What bothers me about this whole affair is that even this debate, the ultimate goal of which is protecting the troops and one we can all agree to, is reduced to political wrangling. Liberals, eager to catch this administration in a mistake, seem dedicated to proving that Dragon Skin is better than the Army’s choice. Conservatives, who often confuse supporting Army policies or the president with supporting the troops, appear unwilling to consider that body armor technology could progress beyond the Army’s ability to keep up.

I can’t tell which side of this debate is right and that’s really a shame. It should be rather simple to tell if one bullet proof jacket is more effective than another but each side seems to be arguing from a different set of facts. I maintain that Dragon Skin represents the future (not necessarily the current best, as you misquoted me, Charlie) of body armor. Whether its current manifestation will eventually make it through the government intact, the basic design of overlapping discs holds the promise of lighter, curvature covering armor and, ultimately, greater protection.

And that should be a goal upon which we all agree.