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The Technology Transfer Program: Applying for Advanced Counterdrug Technologies
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A Report from Dr. Al Brandenstein

Super Sniffer Drug Dogs

By Land or By Sea or By Air

Carrying Out Congress' Command

Anti-Cocaine Medications

DENS: The Drug Evaluation Network System

Friends Under the Dome

Mission Accomplished: Advanced Technology Pursuit Boat

Technology Transfer Program's Impact

The DARPA Connection

The Technology Transfer Program: Applying for Advanced Counterdrug Technologies

A CTAC-FBI Partnership

VoiceBox Digital Wiretap

Unlocking Mysteries Deep in the Brain
Why this Program Exists

Law enforcement finds it increasingly difficult to penetrate drug crime organizations. Drug distribution gangs are based more and more on familial and village associations, and drug dealers often employ sophisticated communications technologies including cloned cell phones and e-mail. In response to this threat to our country, Congress funded the Technology Transfer Program to help state and local cops in their fight against narcotraffickers. Through the Technology Transfer Program, CTAC provides a wide range of overt and covert technologies�most of which had their start at CTAC or in the inventories of the FBI, DEA, DoD, Customs, and other U.S. agencies.

During the past 3 years, Congress has appropriated $39,000,000, empowering CTAC to provide federally developed advanced devices and systems to over 1300 of America's 17,000 state and local law enforcement agencies. These technologies allow cops to see through darkness, detect money laundering, penetrate complex drug trafficking conspiracies with digital wiretaps, communicate across agency lines in real time despite incompatible radios, track drug dealers via satellite, share drug crime information among regional departments, and convert shaky, apparently useless surveillance video into clear, court-presentable evidence. Many arrests, indictments, and convictions have already been credited to the technologies, and officer safety has improved as a result of the deployment of the Technology Transfer Program.

Cop Friendly

State and local law enforcement agencies are often surprised at how easy it is for a qualified department to get high tech help from this program. At our regional workshop in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department's Deputy Chief Glen Mowrey looked out at the representatives of more than 200 police agencies and said, "All of us in this room understand the politics of local law enforcement budgeting. For a chief or a sheriff to go before local elected leaders and ask for more money to buy technologies instead of to hire additional officers is quite difficult." So, CTAC's Technology Transfer Program is NOT a grant program. There is NO transfer of money. Instead, state and local law enforcement agencies decide what they need and apply for the available systems and devices that meet those requirements. Applications are reviewed thoroughly but quickly and so long as funds are available, technologies are purchased and scheduled for delivery in coordination with training. The Program's goal is to get the technologies deployed rapidly to help local and state authorities do the most damage possible to drug criminals and their organizations and to increase officer safety.
Chief Mowrey speaking at a microphone
Photo from local TV news report of CTAC workshop

How to Apply

To be considered for the Technology Transfer Program, a law enforcement agency must submit two documents: (1) An official letter signed by top management (Sheriff, Chief, District Attorney) and (2) the completed Technology Transfer Program application. The letter must (1) request participation in the Technology Transfer Program, (2) choose up to three among the listed technologies, and (3) agree to provide evaluation reports assessing the impact of the received technology on the department's drug enforcement efforts. The signed letter of request must be mailed on your agency's letterhead to the program's administrators:

Electronic Proving Ground
Counterdrug Office
Fort Huachuca, Arizona 85613-7110

In addition you may complete the Technology Transfer Program application form on-line at the Web site www.epgctac.com. Alternatively, you may request a catalog of the technologies available, which includes a copy of the form, by calling (877) 374-2822, Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., ET.

HIDTA Preference

Preference is given to departments that are located in High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs) that can demonstrate a need for advanced technology assistance.

Mandatory Training & Evaluation

Departments receiving the technologies commit to using them and to evaluating them. Mandatory, scheduled training, which includes travel, precedes the delivery of any of the systems and devices, and there are follow-up evaluations at 60, 180, and 270 days.

What's Available

A full list of the systems and devices currently available from the Technology Transfer Program can be viewed on the Web site www.epgctac.com, or a from a catalog detailing the available technologies will be mailed upon request by calling (877)-374-2822.







Last Updated: August 29, 2002



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