County Police Unveil High-Tech Ballistic Information System Amount of Time It Takes Forensic Other County Police Departments
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School ttt tnot* for th* fcwfwmk, Or nOttt0. wOf flMW Ort JVM) rf» story In Sporft, XtBB S' Vol. 22, No, 52 Serving Westfield, Scotch Plains and Fanwood Friday, December 28, 2007 County police unveil high-tech ballistic information system amount of time it takes forensic other county police departments. examiners and investigators to solve Once the images have been cap- THE RECORD-PRESS a g*un crime, compared to having the tured by BrassTRAX, they are sent to WESTFIELD — The Union comparisons done manually, law the Integrated Ballistic Identification County Police Department has a new enforcement authorities said. System database, which correlates weapon in the fight against crime. "We do an awful lot in the realm of the digital signature from each casing The department recently added a forensics and ballistics," said Union with ballistic evidence from the same new ballistic information caliber class and general computer system, known as rifling characteristics. BrassTRAX, to its arsenal. Then, the system produces After being installed by the "Every casing, when fired from out of a gun, a best match list for ballis- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, retains certain properties and identifiable tic examiners to review. Firearms and Explosives The database enables (BAFTE), the state-of-the- markings that are unique to that gun. It forensic examiners to iden- art equipment was show- brings the large haystack to a smaller, more tify the weapon from which cased at a Dec. 19 media the casings were dis- event at the department's manageable haystack." charged and discover links headquarters on North — Sgt. Michael Smnford between crimes that PHOTO BY JIM LOWNEY/COUNTV OF UNION Avenue. occurred anywhere in the Union County Freeholder Chester Holmes (right). The system allows foren- nation. Thanks to the tech- Special Agent Joseph Orttn of the Bureau of Alcohol, sic examiners to analyze 2D — and, County Police Chief Daniel Vaniska. nology, a process that once took Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (left) and Union County following a software upgrade expect- The department's lab processes about months or more can be completed Police Sgt. Michael Sandford watch a ballistic examiner ed in April 2008, 3D — images of dis- 500 ballistic submissions annually, within an hour, authorities said. * working with the newly installed BrassTRAX ballistic charged cartridge casings instantly including cases from the Port Detective Krzysztof Audinis and information computer system at Union County Police and with digital precision. The pro- Authority of New York and New headquarters in Westfield. gram will significantly reduce the Jersey, New Jersey State Police and (Continued on page A-2) Girls take to the gridiron in powder-puff game No time to waste: On Saturday, Nov. 24 the DECA chapter at Scotch Young author is Plains-Fanwood High School hosted a powder-puff football already published game between the senior and junior girls. More than 100 participants braved chilly weather as the seniors pre- THE RECORD-PRESS vailed, 28-21. With coaching WESTFIELD — Sam Vitale knows a from both junior and senior thing or two about making good use of her football players, the girls time. were able to play a competi- Only 18, the local resident is already a tive game and take part In published author. Her first book, "Wasted what has quickly become a Time,'* tells the story of Henry, Bret and rivalry match. Over $750 Lily Mulligan. The three children had raised from ticket sales and always been warned not to waste their concessions was donated to time, but never took the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital- the message serious- Bristol/Myers Squibb ly until they met Pediatric Oncology Unit. The someone whose life event was organized by DECA depended on it. In supervisor Mrs. Fltzgibbon Vitale's tale, written and seniors Jordan Yellen, for 9- to 12-year-old Colleen Driscoll and Tyler Del readers, the Mauro. DECA is a student- Mulligans travel the centered co-curricular organi- past, present and zation whose program of future to prevent leadership, competition, com- others from wasting munity service and personal their newfound SAM VITALE development is designed for friend, Time. students enrolled in market- Vitale doesn't have a lot of time to spare ing and business education herself. The 18-year old is already in the classes. process of writing her second book, "The Fairy Forest," while juggling a full sched- ule as a freshman at the University of Delaware (she plans to transfer to Rutgers Looking back on the year that was: 2007 in review next semester), pursuing her interest in horseback riding, and going on her own By THERESA STULTZ shortly after Christmas, unanimously adventures as a certified diver. Still, she THE RECORD-PRESS passing a resolution that called the acts sat down one recent afternoon to discuss "premeditated acts of religious hatred." her writing career and her plans for the With 2008 just around the corner, it's After a lengthy legal dispute, Westfield future. time to look back on the events of the past also reached a deal with former police offi- Though creative writing runs in her 12 months. Following are some of the high- cer Gregory Kasko. The settlement blood — her grandfather was a writer for lights and lowlights of 2007 in local towns. resolved disciplinary charges filed against the National Enquirer — Vitale said she is January: The year opened with both Kasko after he allegedly lied under oath, not banking on eking out a comfortable liv- good and bad news for the Westfield school as well as a subsequent lawsuit the officer ing on a writers' salary. She plans to study district. Local voters approved a $9.4 mil- filed in November 2005 claiming that he animal science, "maybe go to veterinary lion school bond to fund an early childhood retaliation for blowing the whistle on for- school. We'll see." learning center in a renovated Lincoln mer Police Chief Bernard Tracy. "I heard you don't eat as a writer," said School. By consolidating all Pre-K and The Scotch Plains Township Council Vitale — a lesson she 'learned from her kindergarten classes in one place, the dis- endorsed a proposal to construct a full- father, a chemist and professor at Kean trict plans to free up space in its crowded size, lighted artificial turf soccer/lacrosse elementary schools. The measure also University. field at the Southside Park for $1.9 mil- Like most writers, for Vitale the love of included funds for upgrades to Roosevelt lion. In an unrelated project, the Board of and Edison intermediate schools. writing developed from a passion for read- Education decided to ask voters for $2 mil- ing. Her love affair with books began with But also this month, Westfield police lion to install synthetic turf at the Scotch the wildly popular "Harry Potter" series. released the sketch of a suspect in the Plains-Fanwood High School football and "I used to hate reading until Harry alleged fondling of a 14-year old boy at soccer fields and replace the 17-year old Potter came along," said Vitale. "The whole knifepoint in a Westfield High School track. world (author J.K. Rowling) made up, I bathroom. The incident took place in One of the year's most memorable scenes March: In Westfield, Superintendent thought it was so realistic... I expected to September 2006, but the victim did not was the Scotch Plains-Fan wood HS girls William J. Foley announced he would get a letter from Hogwarts on my 11th report it for months. At year's end, no basketball team celebrating its county retire at the end of the school year. Foley, championship. birthday." arrest had been made. who became superintendent in October She can trace the inspiration for her Over in Scotch Plains, a new era in local Fanwood suffered a tragedy on Jan. 13, 1996 after a prior stint in the district's first book to another specific moment. politics began with a bang. Democrats when a 20-year old borough woman was front office, said it was "a privilege to work After lying in bed one summer afternoon Kevin Glover and Jeff Strauss joined the killed after her car struck and severed a as superintendent in one of the finest com- two years ago "with a ton of stuff do," Township Council, bringing what had been utility pole on Route 22 in Mountainside. munities in the state." Vitale had a thought. "How nice would it a Republican stranglehold closer to parti- Chantal Mueller was traveling westbound In a sad story that drew national atten- be to talk to Time and say, 'Hey, will you san balance. Both sides expressed hopes at approximately 12:4O a.m. when her tion, friends and family members mourned slow down?'" she said. for bipartisan comity in the wake of a bit- green 1999 Acura suddenly left the high- the loss of three divers, two of them In an attempt to make that concept ter and contentious campaign. But signs of way near Sheffield Street, according to Westfield residents, who died during an more real, Vitale took out a notebook and the struggles ahead emerged when Glover Mountainside authorities. Police believed underwater exploration of the USS Spiegel began penning the outlines of her first and Strauss dissented over appointment of excessive speed was the cause of the acci- Grove east of Key Largo, Fla. Westfield story, which describes as a "self-initiated assistant township attorney Larry dent. residents Scott Stanley and Jonathan Woodruff and the re-appointment of Rich project." February: The Westfield Town Council Walsweer and Chatham resident Kevin "It all kind of just fell into place," she Duthie, who had run on the Republican denounced the vandalism of Nativity ticket, to the Board of Adjustment.