Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate Visits the EKU Justice & Safety Center
On Friday, 13 April 2007, Mr. Jose Vasquez and Ms. Sonja Rodriguez of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) visited the Justice and Safety Center at Eastern Kentucky University. Mr. Vasquez, Director of the Tech SHARE (Technology to Strengthen the Homeland and Advance Responder Effectiveness) program, and Ms. Rodriquez, Director of the Tech Clearinghouse Program, visited the JSC because of work staff at the center is conducting on projects for DHS including the Tech Clearinghouse and Tech Solutions programs. Mr. Vasquez and Ms. Rodriguez’ visited in the hopes of learning more about the capabilities of the center, and to determine if other projects or activities could be leveraged for Department of Homeland Security initiatives.
Dr. Pam Collins, Executive Director of the Justice and Safety Center, welcomed the group and discussed the five primary JSC areas of expertise including: Needs and Requirements, Research and Development, Testing and Evaluation, Training and Technical Assistance, and Program Administration and Management. The DHS group then toured the Justice & Safety Center and saw demonstrations of several technologies in the public safety and security technology laboratory. Ryan Baggett, Deputy Director of Technology and information services, and Mike Brosius, engineering consultant, demonstrated the ARREST program (Advanced Rural and Remote Electronic Surveillance Technology), CSI PAAL (Crime Scene Investigation Procedural Anytime/Anywhere Learning), C-RVAT (Community Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Tool), and the UAV/MAV (Unmanned and Micro Aerial Vehicles) which are all being developed in the JSC lab.
The Justice & Safety Center’s Tech Clearinghouse project is a one-stop-shop to meet all the informational needs of the nation’s first responders with regards to technologies. As part of PSITEC (Public Safety and Security Information Technology), in partnership with G&H, EKU’s JSC developed the Tech Clearinghouse portal.
Tech Solutions is a program to develop and deploy technologies into the hands of the nation’s first responders.
For more information, contact Jo Brosius, Director of Communications at the Justice & Safety Center, jo.brosius@eku.edu.
