After an ex-convict shot and wounded his parole officer at the downtown Brooklyn state parole office last week, three parole offices will be getting metal detectors. NY1 reports that the three offices will be part of a pilot program, "If successful, all parole offices in the state will be equipped with the security measures." That's right—no parole offices have detectors; as the parole officers' union said, "We are the only law-enforcement officers without metal detectors. Middle schools have metal detectors." more ›

Lifeguards, sharks, outlaw swimmers... are there any other beach stories one can squeeze out of summer? Yep! The Daily News has published a piece about sand scavengers! One of their reporters recently rented a metal detector and searched for treasure on Coney Island. The rental alone costs $37.95 a day plus $25 for a sifter, and the employee at the rental company told her that she'd likely only find nickels and crushed cans! Indeed, she only dug up $2.07 in beach booty—so much for that bailout (pailout?). more ›

Officials at Stuyvesant High School told parents that they want to install metal detectors, but not because of concern that students are bringing weapons to school. The prestigious public high school simply wants to catch students who are breaking the Department of Education's ban on cellphones and are using them to text each other test answers. Principal Stanley Teitel said that the scanners would hopefully be installed during finals week in January. In the past, students at high schools that have metal detectors installed to combat them from bringing weapons in have griped about having their cell phones taken away, while students magnet schools like Stuyvesant can sneak them in unchallenged. more ›