Well, the New York Police Department’s plan for mobile weapon scanners sort of remind me of that, but they are, of course, completely different.

The NYPD is developing a small, portable version of the full body scanners – similar to those that you have to go through in the airport, but using infrared sensors. These devices would enable officers to determine if someone is carrying or concealing a weapon under his or her clothes, without having to leave the police car or van. The device would be able to differentiate between the suspect’s body and any metal objects they are carrying.

The initiative was announced this week by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. So far, Kelly reports they have already been able to produce a prototype scanner in conjunction with the Department of Defense, although it’s still pretty limited: it only has a range of three to four feet. Kelly remains confident though, that they can push this up to eighty feet with continued work on the project.

[via Gothamist via Dvice]

Anyway, someone called 911. Officers tried to arrest the man, but he kept swinging the lightsabers at them. One tried to use his Taser but the device didn’t work. This was likely the result of his force powers. Another officer successfully used his Taser, but the lightsaber deflected the wires.

Eventually he was arrested and taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation. I have heard that some of the hospital staff claim to have seen him talking with holograms. I wonder if he was asking for Obi Wan Kenobi’s help.

[via Oregon Live]

Papercraft master Daumier Smith of Longtail’s Cafe previously built some awesome paper models of the V8 Interceptor from Mad Max, so it was only natural that he’d do another movie car as his next model.

The police spinner model is incredibly detailed, and even has a full cockpit and seating, as well as clear windows and roof, which are cut out of sheets of acetate.

The best thing about this thing is that you can make one for yourself. Sure, it’ll take some precision work with an X-Acto knife to cut out all the tiny components and then carefully glue them together, but when it’s done, it’ll look great.

You can grab a full set of PDFs of the spinner car paper model, along with construction diagrams, over at Longtail’s Cafe.

Scary thought, I know, which is why I think the City Scars app is a very good idea, even though that’s all it is right now: an idea.

The app has a pretty scary (and strange name) but in a way, it does make sense. It tracks down the scars of the city you’re in (scars being crimes, broken street lights, among others) from user-submitted information and pushes alerts and notifications to other users of the app.

Through the app, concerned users can also share “digital witness” information to the authorities about stuff that they just happened to capture and, well, witness.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Yanko Design]

The police asked the man to come out of the road he pulled up his shirt to reveal the console. The man then tossed the PS2 at the officers and ran for it. One of the officers was hit with the console and had a minor hand injury from it.

The police chased the guy and when he was cornered, Jones picked up a potted plant and a gutter spout to use as weapons and tossed two metal chairs and when he went to pick up a third chair the police had enough. The police tased the man and used pepper spray. I wonder what order that happened in, pepper spray and then tase, or tase and then pepper spray while the guy was twitching.

Perhaps the guy was just really high and thought he was playing Grand Theft Auto, and the graphics were just really freaking awesome.

[via Kotaku]

They called the zoo, rounded up a team with tranquilizer guns, and sent them out in a helicopter to keep them from being eaten by sending them on foot. As the police neared the beast it likely sat quite still and didn’t care that the helicopter was hovering nearby and a shooter was taking aim. The reason said tiger was so meh about the copter soon became apparent when the tiger blew over thanks to the wind created by the helicopter.

Yep, the tiger that caused all the ruckus was a stuffed toy. Let me say again, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I would have thought that upon receiving a report of a tiger on the loose the police would have done two things. Number one, someone would have at least used some binoculars to peep the tiger ahead of mounting a aerial assault on the beast. Number two, could the zookeepers not have ran over to the tiger cage and took a head count. Seriously, the stripes aren’t that confusing. The police are now searching for the owner of the stuffed toy. I wonder if they are using the helicopter to look for him.

[via BBC]

I’m not sure if the example above is one of the software’s correct findings. In any case, Prof. Jain and his team still have a lot of tweaking to do. Currently they claim that out of a database of 10,000 mug shots, their software was able to make the correct match 45% of the time. They say that this is a significant improvement over current commercial facial recognition systems. I wish the whole MSU team luck, and I hope they manage to finish their software. If I had their software I’d probably spend my time searching for people that look like cartoon characters.

[via MSU via Geek]

These pictures are actual copies of the public advisory made by the San Obispo police. They sent these images to Gawker in response to the blog’s article about this ridiculousness. A cursory glance at the advisory makes it obvious that it only makes things worse, as it singles out people who cosplayed as Pedobear and even a car owner who has a Pedobear sticker. As much as it pains me to say it, if you drop by or live in said County you better not be caught with any Pedobear-related image, because chances are you’ll be branded a pedophile. It’s the first documented case of memism folks. Them police be memists.

While they’re at it, police should also be on the lookout for Hamburglar, because that mascot is clearly promoting thievery.

[via Gawker]

This concept design for stilettos for police women were designed by artist Tim Cooper and are covered with intricate law-enforcement details, including tiny headlights, turn signals and strobe lights. Pity they’re not real and they’re just a 3D model. Still, if they are ever made, you bet that they’ll be noticed.

They kind of remind me of Blade Runner for some reason.

[via Yanko Design]

The NET-2000 Shooting Net Rod uses a charge of highly compressed air to fire a net at fleeing suspects from as far as 49 feet away.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While it doesn’t spin a web of just any old size, it does fire a huge 52 square foot net made of high strength Nylon fiber. While the device may look like an innocuous flashlight when not in use, it sure packs a wallop when fired up.

In addition to law enforcement use, its designed for animal catchers to use in place of traditional manual nets. Importer Chinagrabber is selling the devices for just $419 a piece, but I’d suggest that you check with your local police department before you try to catch stray alley cats with one of these.

The bunny strobe lights are designed for use on vehicles patrolling the neighborhoods around schools, presumably so the kids can point and laugh at the cops.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’m guessing that somebody was listening to that Radiohead song Rabbit in Your Headlights and misunderstood the translation.

[Gizmodo Japan via Pink Tentacle]

You see, the IM-5 is actually a high-tech update to the old can of pepper spray. Instead of using a spray can filled with aerosol propellant, the gun uses compressed nitrogen to fire a nasty blast of pelletized PAVA pepper powder at attackers from up to 40 feet away. And just in case you have lousy aim, it’s got a laser sight to make sure you don’t miss. It can even rapid-fire up to 5 shots to take out multiple assailants.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The $300 device certainly isn’t as dangerous to handle as a Taser, but you’ll probably want to check with your local law enforcement before you start shooting at irritating coworkers with one of these.

[via WIRED]

The PogoAlert features a compact 1.8-inch LCD screen that mounts on your car’s dashboard or windshield, and lets you know when you’re approaching a speed trap or traffic camera. It also comes with live radar and laser detection to alert you to new spots that aren’t yet in the GPS database. Since it’s loaded with GPS data, it can also alert you to the current speed limit, and only alarm if you’ve exceeded that. Remember that radar and laser detectors aren’t legal in all localities, so check your local laws before thinking about one of these.

The PogoAlert currently offers map data for the UK and Europe only and runs

The battery-operated glove vibrates to alert officers when it comes across knives, guns or other metal objects on a suspect. Since it does this silently, there’s less risk of tipping off the perp (although the vibration might give it away). Each glove runs just about