Los Angeles Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Use New Technology at the Academy Awards Show

Los Angeles:  The LAPD, in a collaborative effort with the Department of Homeland Security, unveiled an expansion of the new DHS aerial technology system that will be used for the first time at this year’s Academy Awards at a press conference today.  

The system, called the LA Shield, enables the LAPD to inspect critical infrastructure.  LA Shield provides officials with images, geographic coordinates and inspection-related information that help to assess the security of infrastructure and allows for a real-time exchange of information with police resources on the ground.  

For the first time, this system will be used to help secure this year’s Academy Awards ceremony.  

“The amalgamation of tools that we are using to police this great event, and in protecting the city of Los Angeles, is emblematic of Chief Bratton’s mandate to change the policing paradigm from that of ‘First Responders’ to ‘First Preventers,’” said Capt. Horace E. Frank, Commanding Officer, Emergency Service Division.

During the press conference, LAPD Emergency Services Division also demonstrated the use of Bomb Detections K-9s and the technology to detect human body-worn threats.

The LA Shield builds upon the successful Critical Infrastructure Inspection Management System (CIIMS) prototype, which is currently being developed by the DHS with the Maryland State Police.  The CIIMS was designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and is funded by the Command, Control and Interoperability Division of DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate.

“The use of CIIMS at the Academy Awards is an important milestone in the enhancement of a tool critical to supporting emergency preparedness and response efforts,” said Dr. David G. Boyd, Director of the DHS Command, Control and Interoperability Division.  “The expansion of CIIMS capabilities from ground to aerial use will further increase its value to the first responder community and the safety of the Nation.”
For more information regarding the LA Shield system, please contact Media Relations at 213-485-3586.