Latest news with #AmyWilliams
Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Miami Herald
How the Denver Police Department's crime lab pioneered a crime-solving fingerprint system
DENVER - If you leave an identifiable fingerprint at a crime scene along Colorado's Front Range, it probably won't be long before 32 different police agencies know about it. That's because of a pioneering information-sharing system created by the Denver Police Department's Denver Crime Laboratory that allows four different Colorado crime labs to connect fingerprint evidence across departments, cases and crimes. Leaders at the Denver Crime Lab believe the system, dubbed the Latent Print Case Association Program, is the first - and only - such system in the United States. "We have a DNA database that connects cases to cases, we have a firearms evidence database that connects cases to cases - latent prints didn't have anything like that," said Amy Williams, supervisor of the latent print unit at the Denver Crime Lab. So the lab created it. Now, when an analyst identifies a fingerprint as connected to a particular person, they can run that person's information through the system to see if that person left fingerprints at any other crime scenes. The check crosses jurisdictions and is almost instantaneous, Williams said. The new system helps detectives build stronger cases and ensures investigators learn about connections to other crimes early on in the process, said Sgt. Todd Erickson, who heads DPD's auto theft team. In the past, a detective might not have known about a contemporaneous crime in another city until the other police department finished its investigation and prosecutors there pressed charges. Now, that connection is made at the front end of a case, he said, allowing detectives to work together and coordinate during their investigations. "Which helps us too, obviously, when they are going to court and facing four counts of stealing cars instead of just one," Erickson said. "Maybe they can stay in (jail) so they are not out revictimizing." The information-sharing system Denver created is different from the state and federal Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems. Those databases allow analysts to compare a fingerprint against many others to find potential matches and ultimately identify the suspect who left the fingerprint. The information-sharing system starts once the suspect's fingerprint has already been identified, and makes connections from there to other cases where fingerprints tie back to the same suspect. The Denver Crime Lab's system was launched for cases within only the Denver Police Department in 2018, but expanded to include four crime laboratories in 2023, broadening its reach to 32 police agencies spanning from metro Denver to Colorado Springs. The system was instrumental in identifying the members of an auto theft crew who targeted cars parked at the Denver International Airport a couple of years ago because it connected incidents that spanned jurisdictions across the metro area to the same repeat offenders, Williams said. About 3,000 fingerprint identifications have been entered into Denver's information-sharing program since 2023. Those entries resulted in 234 case associations involving 110 suspects whose criminal activity spanned two or more jurisdictions, according to the Denver Police Department. ---------- Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Denver police close a loophole with fingerprint technology to fight crime
DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Police Department Crime Lab is celebrating the seven-year anniversary of a program they are hoping to expand statewide or even nationally. The Latent Print Case Association Program is the first of its kind and shares information about prints found at scenes. Six Denver-Boulder metro governments sue Colorado, Polis for home rule control When DNA or ballistic information is collected at a scene, there is a mechanism in place that notifies investigators from different agencies that there is a connection in their cases. This was not the case with latent prints, and detectives were not always alerted to a link in a timely fashion. 'They eventually received our reports with this information, but a detective in District One may not necessarily know this same individual had just been identified the same day on a case in District Six,' said DPD Forensic Scientist Supervisor Amy Williams. So, at no cost to taxpayers, the Latent Print Unit created the Latent Print Case Association program to automatically share the information within the department. Denver police said law enforcement databases in Colorado only contain information regarding convictions and charges. This program is proactive and shares information in the early stages of investigation. It worked so well that in 2023, the program was expanded to include three other labs and 32 jurisdictions in the state. 'For instance, we may have an individual who steals a car in Aurora — two days later steals a car in Denver. This Case Association Program now connects those two detectives and those two laboratories that did this work to tell them, hey, you've both got the same individual, when historically this may take a couple of years,' Williams explained. Christian overnight camp says it will be shut down under Colorado's gender identity rules She said it's been a tremendous success. Since January 2023, about 3,000 entries have been made, which have generated 234 case associations. 'It's a pretty novel program. We're not aware of anywhere else in the country that's doing this,' Williams said. 'We would love to see the benefits of this go nationwide if at all possible.' Denver police said the program has been helpful. In one example, it helped to link 10 separate crimes across two jurisdictions to one suspect. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
RNZ News
13-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Former members of Two by Twos sect critical of group's transparency
Former members of a secretive sect known as the Two by Twos are criticising the religious group's lack of accountability and transparency with money, claiming the leaders receive gifts of cash and don't pay tax. Amy Williams has the story. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
USA Today
22-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
What Nebraska coach Amy Williams said after losing to Louisville in the NCAA Tournament
What Nebraska coach Amy Williams said after losing to Louisville in the NCAA Tournament Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Amy Williams met with the media following her team's 63-58 defeat to the Louisville Cardinals in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Williams opened her availability by expressing her disappointment in the season coming to an end. This is a team that's really disappointed right now. We came here to win in this tournament. They did that. They've raised the expectations for this program. I couldn't be more proud of that. Yeah, we're disappointed, but we're holding our heads high. This is a team that I would go to war with all day, every day, and I've just been blessed to be their coach. Just in the locker room, Britt second-guessing herself, hindsight on the last shot. What do you tell her as we move forward? I tell her just how incredibly proud I am for her to just have the confidence that she had to be able to make the plays that she did all night long and to want the ball in her hands to go to the basket in that moment. She's a winner. They're all winners. These two young ladies sitting up next to me, Lex talked about how she came to that first meeting. I just want to win, after winning a couple of state championships. Logan was a state champion. Britt was a four-time state champion. They're champions that know how to win and want to be in positions to want to make plays to help their team win, and this was no different. I mean, I look at the box score. We gave up 18 offensive rebounds. They had 27 points off of our 24 turnovers. By all accounts, it should be probably a tail-kickin'. It wasn't a tail-kickin'. It was a game, and we had a chance to win this game. It's because those kids believe in themselves as winners. They compete. They play with each other and for each other. It's a special thing that I wish I could just bottle up. But something I'm incredibly proud of all of them for, including Britt Prince. What happened there at the second quarter where you just couldn't get them shut down going into halftime? I thought that little run right at the end of the second quarter, where we had a turnover that led to kind of an and-1 wasn't the way we wanted to close out the half. And then we came out at halftime, and I thought they amped up their defensive pressure just a little bit more. They were trying to make things difficult to get the ball to our guards to initiate offense. But when we settled in and just said, guys, just go play with some pace, get the ball and push tempo, we started to get back to what we do and were able to come back and take a lead and give ourselves a chance to win an NCAA Tournament game. I think that fight, that resolve, that ability to stay locked in and never, never say die, never count us out is something that this team, I feel like, has been known for and a strong characteristic trait for the individual players in the group and the team as a whole. Amy, you just talked about never say die. This team was counted out at times during the season. But just looking at, obviously, this is not the result you wanted today, but just the fight that you guys put up, how proud are you of this team and just what does it say about the program going forward? Yeah. It's just the strangest emotion to feel like we're not just happy to be here so there's a strong disappointment and just bad taste in our mouth because this is a team that came to win. But just coupled with just pride and the pride that I have, and I just feel so fortunate and blessed to coach this group because they have been really resilient. When you spend a lot of time as a program talking about response and how you respond to the things that come your way and then to watch this team just continuously respond in a way that they can be proud of, their families can be proud of, our program can be proud of, the University of Nebraska, our athletic department, the state of Nebraska, our fan base, everybody can be proud of, it just swells me with pride. The defeat marks the end of Williams's ninth season as the head coach of the Cornhuskers. It's also the fourth time she's appeared in the NCAA Tournament and the third time in the last four seasons. The Nebraska Cornhuskers end the 2024-25 season with a record of 21-12.
USA Today
21-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
What the Louisville women's basketball coach said about Nebraska prior to tournament game
What the Louisville women's basketball coach said about Nebraska prior to tournament game Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz met with the media the day before his team is scheduled to face off with the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals enter Friday's game as a No. 7 seed with a 21-10 overall record and a 13-5 in the ACC. They lost to the Duke Blue Devils in the second round of the ACC Tournament. They enter the NCAA Tournament having lost three of their last five games, but all three losses were to Top-Ten teams. Nebraska will play in Friday's game as the No. 10 seed. The Huskers have a record of 21-11 overall and 10-8 in the Big Ten Conference. This will be Nebraska's 17th NCAA Tournament bid overall. The Huskers hold an all-time record of 9-16. As Nebraska's head coach, Amy Williams has a 1-3 tournament record. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. CT and can be seen on ESPN. Find comments from Louisville coach Jeff Walz about the Cornhuskers by scrolling below. Center Alexis Markowski, when you see her have her best games, what's she doing for Nebraska? Everything. Scores, defends, she rebounds the basketball. She's just really impressive. I remember her as a freshman when they came and played at our place in '22. She had a really good game against Gonzaga in that first round. That's back before the transfer portal was open or I would have handed her business cards and offered her money. I mean, you can do all that stuff now. So unfortunately, she's just a few years too old. But yeah, I mean, great, great player. I was actually there when her dad played and he was a really good player, as well. Jeff, you have eight freshman this year and that's got to be kind of difficult getting all of those people virgin to your culture. How have they been this year and how different are they now in March than back when practice started in October? It's a great group. I think anybody can tell you from watching us from November till now, we've grown as a team. We've gotten a lot better. Our freshman have, you know, had some ups and downs, but I think they're playing a lot more consistent right now for us. Taj has had a fantastic year from start to finish. I thought the game started off slow for her, in the terms of being able to process it. It wasn't going 90 miles an hour and you're trying to get a feel for it. That first game, she handled it well. As a freshman playing the minutes she played, you struggle some and get tired and you get beat up. She's never had that. She's started every game and played in every single game. So it's not like she had a week off, sprained ankle or anything like that. The rest of them have continued to grow. I mean our Clemson game with playing with out Jayda and Riss in the first round of the conference tournament, we had four freshman on the floor 50 percent of the time. Then in a game that goes overtime. So it's not like they were out there playing with a 20 point lead and you're not worried about it. So they've all got a lot of experience and hopefully they're able to carry that over to our game tomorrow night. Just talk about your relationship maybe you have with her (Nebraska head coach Amy Williams) Amy is great. Still be willing to bet she'd win a Horse game with anybody on her team right now. You know, it was my first year, our first year as a staff and we came in and inherited a really good group of kids. Some talented players. Anna DeForge was the best player on the team at that point in time. Went to an NCAA tournament that first year. Amy has been around basketball her entire life. Coaching is part of the family and it has not surprised me that she has had the success every place she's been. She understands the game, her teams are very well prepared. I've been very impressed as I've watched her from afar, as well. She makes good in-game adjustments. She has a good feel of, you know, when to get someone in the game, when to get someone out of the game. I've just been really impressed. So I'm expecting a great game tomorrow, and excited for her because she is not only a good coach, but a really good person. Back to the freshman for a second, Nebraska has a couple including Britt Prince. What do you see from her when you watch film? Britt is a fantastic player. We recruited her hard. My wife and I watched her play. Happened to be the same day our volleyball team was playing in the Final Four. So it worked out great for me, had a chance to go watch a high school game and then go cheer on our volleyball team. She's been special. I mean all throughout her high school career, her AAU ball, she has a really good flare for the game, understanding the game, she's fun to watch. You know, her signature, she plays with her hair down, you know? Our first goal is we've got two kids with a pair of scissors. When the tip goes up we're just going to cut it and see if it throws her off. That's one thing I've not seen anybody try yet. So we're going to see if it works for us tomorrow. You have to think outside the box and we're trying to. She's a great kid. She was great to talk to on the phone and fun to watch. She's really, really good. Coach, going back to the connection with Amy, what is your memories of being in Nebraska and that fan base, but then also just does it kind of feel like a full circle moment, the start of your coaching career, the end of her playing career and now somebody that you helped assist in her senior year is coaching against you in an NCAA tournament? Well, I'll go back. I really enjoyed my time in Lincoln. It was an eye opening experience when we had a snow storm in October. The beautiful thing about the state -- if it's going to be cold, I want snow. Everybody will tell you, I love snow-skiing, I love to be outside, but the one thing I've always said, I've spent four years at Nebraska, one year at Minnesota, and when the first snow comes, it don't leave. It just does not melt. That's the one thing about it. So when it snowed in October, and Amy will tell you, if she remembers, I was there with Paul Sanderford was the head coach. Everything is shut down because nobody was expecting it. Paul was like, well we're still having practice. Everybody thought we were crazy, I was in my truck picking up players from their apartments, wherever they lived and we just practiced. I loved my time there. I've still got dear friends there. You know, I was there right toward the end of Coach Osborne's reign with football and that was the first time I'd ever worked at a place where, you know, there was a wedding on a Saturday and it was football game, nobody showed up for the wedding, including the bride and groom. I mean, it was like football first. But everybody loved the athletics. If you were an athlete, they absolutely loved you there So I enjoyed it. Amy, you know, she's a great person, like I said, really understands the game. As you're sitting there as a 26-year old, I think, or 25, I'm not sure how old I was, but it was my third year in coaching, you know, you're not expecting for this day. I always say it, it's -- I've got players now that are getting married, having families and I'm always around the same age person. They're 18 to 22 and then you see Amy and her daughter is a freshman and I'm like, how is that possible? Everything keeps on going. You kind of stay in one place because everybody around me stays the same age, and now you're seeing someone like Amy and her family and just really excited for her. What an opportunity to get a chance to come back and coach at your alma mater, and then to be able to do what she's done. It's not easy. There's pressure on her. I think she's handled it extremely well. Keeping in the relationships theme, what was your relationship like with Dani Busboom Kelly, and, you know, how happy are you for her even it's probably bittersweet for -- We're extremely glad she's gone. She's a royal pain in the ass, nobody wanted to deal with her. What you see is all fraud. You just wait for a few months to go by and then you'll get the real Dani. Ya'll have no idea. God bless ya'll. No, I mean, Amy -- Dani and Amy are two competitors. So they're going to get along extremely well, and I always say this, this is -- you know, I was fortunate when I got to Louisville. They had just built a new practice facility for volleyball, men's basketball then we went into the old facility. So we never had to share anything, which makes things easy. You're not fighting for practice times. They're not going to have to do that either. So everybody has got their own. So it's easy to cheer for each other when you're not trying to fight to get a practice time because you have class conflicts. With those two leading your volleyball program and women's basketball, I think you're going to see two that are going to mesh extremely well. Dani did an unbelievable job. What she did for our volleyball program, the excitement that she brought in, her entire staff, the players. She's going to be missed, but we're excited that Dan has decided to stay and take over the reign as our head coach and I think he's going to do a remarkable job. The day and the age of the transfer portal, for him to be able to keep every single one of them and the recruits is pretty impressive. Or they have a healthy NIL budget. Whichever one the two is. You have to laugh, guys. I'm excited for both. What other program do you have your women's basketball coach and your volleyball coach as grads. I don't know if there's any other program in the country that has that. It's pretty special. Both of them had great careers as players and I've no doubt that it's going to continue for both of them.
