Center for Advanced Public Safety
The Center for Advanced Public Safety (CAPS) is an applied research center focused on the integration of technology into real-world problems that impact public safety and well-being. CAPS develops new technology for police officers, emergency medical units, and for government business units that support criminal justice, transportation, human services, vehicle tax registration, and collection and a host of related services. With the provision of cutting edge technology that impacts lives in so many different ways, we engage in engineering and applied social/behavioral science research made possible by technology-produced substrate data. To support this applied research, we also maintain a strong basic research stream in data analytics and the computing technology needed to support big data in society.
A new University of Alabama study shows a person not wearing a seatbelt in a car crash is 40 times more likely to die than those who buckle up. Read more
Sources: Fox 6 (Birmingham), WDAM 7 (Moselle, Mississippi), WTOC 11 (Savannah, Georgia), NBC 5 (Memphis, Tennessee), NBC 12 (Montgomery), ABC 9 (Columbus, Georgia), ABC 10 (Albany, Georgia), WVUA (Tuscaloosa), Phys.org, ABC 33/40 (Birmingham), WAFF-NBC (Huntsville), WSFA-NBC (Montgomery), Yellowhammer News, OA Now, ABC 33/40 (Birmingham), KFVS-CBS (Paducah, Kentucky), Alabama Today, The Columbian (Washington), CBS 42 (Birmingham), WYDE-FM (Birmingham), WPMI-NBC (Mobile), Alabama News Center
Those involved in auto crashes while not wearing seat belts are 40 times more likely to die than those who buckle up, according to an analysis of state crash records from the past five years by University of Alabama researchers. Read more
Two hundred fifty-three. Even seven years later the death toll from a historic tornado outbreak on April 27, 2011, is staggering. Two hundred fifty-three people, people of all ages and walks of life, lost their lives as a direct result of the storms that day, according to the National Weather Service… Read more
Sources: Al.com
Despite a 2012 ban on texting and driving, distracted driving accidents continue to pile up. Now a mother in Alabaster whose daughter was killed recently in a distracted driving accident is taking her fight to Montgomery to try and change laws … The University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public… Read more
Sources: Fox 6 (Birmingham) , NBC 5 (Memphis, Tennessee), WTOC 11 (Savannah, Georgia), WDAM 7 (Moselle, Mississippi), ABC 10 (Albany, Georgia), NBC 12 (Montgomery), ABC 9 (Columbus, Georgia)
Recent events, like the tornado that ripped through Jacksonville state university, remind residents of our state to always be aware of the chance of severe weather. The Center for Advanced Public Safety at the University of Alabama studies the warning communication process and they work with weather enterprise to come up… Read more
Sources: WVUA (Tuscaloosa)
Across Alabama, many people are either on spring break right now, or getting ready for it in the next few weeks. For those who will be on the road this spring break, traffic researchers have some safety considerations for you to remember. University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety… Read more
Sources: Fox 6 (Birmingham), NBC 12 (Montgomery), WTVM 9 (Columbus, Georgia), WDAM 7 (Moselle, Mississippi), NBC 10 (Albany, Georgia), WTOC 11 (Savannah, Georgia), NBC 5 (Memphis, Tennessee)
Between late 2010 and the end of 2014, the state of Alabama did not hire a single state trooper. Despite this freeze, we still had over 400 state troopers. Now we have less than 300. That leaves us over 700 men and women short of the number that we need… Read more
Sources: Yellowhammer News
So the fall and winter are more active than many may think. However, warnings may get less attention then. “What we are finding in the research is that spring tornado warnings work well because people expect them and they know what the warnings mean, but any other time of year, they don’t expect… Read more
Sources: AL.com
The Alabama State Trooper Association on Tuesday called on legislators and Gov. Kay Ivey to address what they say is a critical shortage of troopers on the road … A study by the Center for Advanced Public Safety at the University of Alabama found that Alabama needed a minimum of 1,016… Read more
Sources: Officer.com, Al.com, WAKA-CBS (Montgomery), ABC 33/40 (Birmingham)
The University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety analyzed 10 years of state car crash data and found that the most perilous are the “shopping days before Christmas.” Read more
Sources: The Hill
