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March 28, 2006
If you tag the police, they'll want to tag you
Some police departments have begun testing spychipped police badges. Here's how Inforrmation Week describes it:
South Carolina Highway Patrol, Brookline Massachusetts Police Department, and Louisiana State Capitol Police are testing SmartShield, said John Domurad, director of research and development at Blackinton. Furthest along on deployment, the South Carolina Highway Patrol began September testing badges in the field. The agency deployed the software earlier this year. Next, deploying Datastrip Inc.'s DSVII-SC readers running Windows CE.Net in the field, Domurad said.The DSVII-SC reader can communicate over wireless LAN or cellular networks, has biometric capabilities, and reads PDF bar codes, magnetic strips and RFID chips. It also can retrieve data from on-board memory or an external database via wireless 802.11 or Bluetooth technology, said Stuart Tucker, customer and sales support manager at Datastrip.
Blackinton's application uses 125 kilohertz or a 13.56 megahertz RFID chip. Each encoded with an identification number and law enforcement agency number specific to the division and embedded into the badge made from ferrous metals. "The chip is embedded into the badge, not attached," Domurad said. "The chip becomes inoperable if someone tries to remove."
Read more on Blackinton's website, Information Week, or RFID Journal.
- Katherine Albrecht
Posted by Katherine Albrecht at March 28, 2006 11:15 PM
Comments
Cool! This way drug dealers can track where the cops are with minimal effort. They finally found a good use for RFID.
Posted by: Noid at March 29, 2006 12:26 AM
I'm guessing that the read range on this thing is only a couple of feet, so for the time being, at least, it won't be tracking cops by satellite. (Their cell phones already do that nicely.)
Posted by: Katherine Albrecht at March 29, 2006 7:01 AM
That's assuming you use standard antennas. Use a yagi, and you'd be surprised what you can do.
Posted by: Noid at March 30, 2006 1:43 AM
The Yagi comment reminds me of something Liz and I wrote at Christmas time a few years back:
http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/officials-and-reindeer.html
Posted by: Katherine Albrecht at March 30, 2006 5:52 AM
RFID I have a chip in my neck my parents had it put there when I was sleep walking as a child so they could locate me. It is really cool!!!!
Thanks Mom & Dad
Posted by: PhillyBoyBK at August 15, 2006 12:56 PM