Justice and Public Safety
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After years of sanctions from California, a San Francisco coding boot camp and its CEO have run afoul of federal authorities who accuse them of deceiving students and profiting from dodgy loan agreements.
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While many states have rolled out digital ID programs, the number of law enforcement agencies who accept them remains limited. One agency shared with Government Technology the challenges and successes they’ve experienced conducting traffic stops with users of digital wallets.
Drivers exceeding speed limits in Colorado Springs could be caught on camera if the city implements a new system that uses radar technology to track and identify speeders.
As more cold cases are solved using forensic genealogy, Connecticut’s forensic lab is offering funds to local police departments looking to crack unsolved crimes by testing DNA evidence for familial links.
The state began transitioning in November 2018 when Durham County 911 joined via AT&T ESInet, hosting a hosted call solution and text messaging, and Anson County 911 completed the state’s transition in February.
The New Mexico county has relied on a VHF radio system that is “incredibly close” to end-of-life. Officials are anxious to implement an $8.1 million switch to a state encrypted system but will need roughly $5 million in additional funds to do so.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the California Highway Patrol will stand up 480 surveillance cameras on Oakland streets and East Bay freeways to help identify vehicles associated with crimes. Privacy advocates have criticized the plan.
The technology, which uses acoustic sensors on light poles to alert police about suspected gunfire, received a final extension in February from the mayor that would end this fall. But aldermen want to give the City Council the final say.
The Orange County city is “a little bit behind the curve” in crime-fighting tech, its police chief told the City Council recently. It intends to make a dent in crime by adding license plate readers and video cameras to its streetscape.
The City Council will consider a two-year lease of 10 automatic license plate-reading cameras, technology already in use in nearby Santa Cruz and Watsonville. In the latter city, its cameras helped catch a suspect in a Capitola fatal hit-and-run.
After years of unlicensed operations in North Carolina, a tech firm used by police to capture license plate data now risks being banned from business in the state if it misses a key application deadline.
For the Mason City Police Department and the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office, the implementation of new and not-so-new tech has led to a more efficient workflow and enhanced public safety.
The city will explore using GPS technology from LYT to give green lights to emergency vehicles. The initiative, at a dozen intersections, will preserve its existing, optical-based system and compare their performance.
The new product could help police find evidence and access records more quickly, the company says. Veritone recently launched another AI-backed tool for digital evidence management as more agencies embrace artificial intelligence.
There are currently 217 license plate cameras watching Fort Worth streets, and 20 more are set to be deployed soon, said Sgt. Jason Spencer, a public information officer with the police department.
A band of hackers sent a yearslong barrage of malicious emails to U.S. politicians, government officials and private companies as part of a Chinese espionage and intelligence operation, prosecutors said.
