LAW ENFORCEMENT : Latest Anti-Crime Gadgets Now Go to Local Officers : Pentagon, FBI and other agencies share technology to save time and money. Risk of injury is reduced too.

A suspect breaks into a run, hoping to escape and avoid a hail of police bullets. But an officer armed with a flame-thrower-like gun squirts him with a thick stream of sticky foam.

The goo expands and clings to the man like tar, entangling his legs and arms. Running becomes difficult, then impossible. Unable to flee or fight, he can only await his capture--and the baby oil needed to remove the foam.

The latest in cyberfiction? Not at all.

The weapon, secretly developed for the Defense Department, is among a host of technological advances that the Pentagon has agreed to share with law enforcement agencies across the country now that the Cold War is over.

It’s all part of the federal government’s new push to fight crime, and it involves the Treasury and Justice departments as well--with such agencies as the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Secret Service agreeing to share access to breakthroughs that can save police departments time and money--and reduce the risk of injury to officers, bystanders and suspects.

Top officials from Justice, Defense and Treasury joined Vice President Al Gore recently to announce the cooperative effort, which stems in part from Gore’s “reinventing government” program.

“Together these agreements will help make the advanced technologies of the future available on the streets of America for the law enforcement officers and the police officers throughout this country who are in the front line in the fight against crime,” Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said.

As an example of how the equipment can help law enforcement, Gore was given a firsthand demonstration of a gadget used in many police departments.

The vice president briefly placed his hand on a pane of glass, leaving his fingerprints behind. Then a small device known as a “Magic Wand” was passed over the prints, dying them and binding them with super glue. It provided a more accurate image than traditional dusting, and in a fraction of the time.

Gore also hopped into the driver’s side of a “smart police car” on a test run with a Maryland police department. A mobile data system in the car electronically links officers to their stations through a small terminal. Officers can file reports, look through files and call up maps without having to return to the station.

Other advances displayed included an automated booking system, used exclusively by the DEA since 1990, that records fingerprints, mug shots and evidentiary photos by computer in one-sixth the usual time.

The ATF demonstrated a system operating in the Washington metropolitan police department called Operation Cease-Fire, which uses lasers and computers to “read” bullets recovered from crime scenes by recording the markings guns leave on every bullet they fire.

By comparing the readings from various crime scenes, a process that takes four seconds, police can determine if the same gun was used.

Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen said the system, in place since last year, has already connected 10 shootings in the D.C. area and led to three arrests.

Another device is a miniature shoulder-mounted video camera that transmits images back to headquarters instantly. With the camera, police officers in the field could send pictures of suspects back to the station, where computers could determine quickly if the person is on file or sought by authorities. Military medical teams also can use the cameras to get advice from doctors about how to treat victims.

Other technology that will be shared includes:

* Body armor that is lighter and more effective against bullets and knives.

* Night-vision devices that would help law enforcement authorities capture suspects in the dark.

* Substances placed in gasoline or oil to destroy their ability to power or lubricate vehicles, and viruses that can cripple computer systems.

* Devices that temporarily stun suspects, such as the noise simulators that aided in the U.S. military’s capture of former Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega in January, 1990.

Technologies federal agencies are trying to develop, or increase the use of, include:

* Virtual reality simulators that can create a fictional hostile environment to aid in training officers.

* Drugs that inhibit or calm the nervous system to more easily control dangerous or suicidal people.

* Electronic monitoring devices that can be inserted in fleeing cars so police can track them without chases.