Justice & Public Safety
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The local police department recently unveiled a new rooftop drone port at headquarters. The agency fielded approximately 10,000 drone flights in 2025 and expects about twice as many this year. -
While the city has used drones before, Chief Roderick Porter said the two new aerial vehicles the department is getting under a contract with security tech company Flock Safety are more advanced.
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More than 200 Wisconsin law enforcement agencies use license plate reading technology. The state’s capital city, however, has so far not installed such cameras even as its neighbors have done so.
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Following other tech companies, the software giant’s president, Brad Smith, said Microsoft doesn’t sell facial recognition to police departments and won’t do so until there are federal laws to prevent its misuse.
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In a significant reversal of its earlier stance, Amazon said Wednesday it will stop police use of its controversial facial-recognition technology for a year as it awaits federal legislation to regulate it.
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In letters to several federal law enforcement agencies, House Democrats have questioned whether high-tech surveillance tools like facial recognition and cellphone tracking are being used to monitor protesters.
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So far, five communities in Massachusetts have passed either outright bans or temporary moratoriums on the municipal use of facial recognition. There is concern about the technology being used against peaceful protesters.
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In Georgia’s most populated county, at least three investigations into shoddy elections management have started after poll workers were unable to handle new equipment and voting machines were being delivered late.
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Following in Axon’s footsteps, the computer giant has vowed to drop facial recognition development and offered to work with Congress on technology policies to reduce racial bias in law enforcement.
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Residents of the city are petitioning to expedite the program to equip police officers with body cameras in 2021. As it stands, the department plans to buy the devices between 2022 and 2023.
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The company reports that approximately 190 accounts with ties to white supremacy groups have been removed after encouraging members to attend protests over the police killing of George Floyd.
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The Orlando Sentinel newspaper editorial board calls for a law that would include real consequences for officers who don’t activate their cameras, or who deliberately turn them off to avoid scrutiny.
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Despite what appears to be nearly universal agreement about their value, some departments have said that financial and technical constraints are delaying the institution of body camera programs.
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The Duluth school district's IT department reached out to parents about a cybersecurity breach involving student accounts. Student accounts have all been disabled to prevent additional unauthorized logins.
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The security surrounding Georgia’s new voting system is code-named Project Beskar, a reference to impenetrable steel from “Star Wars.” Georgia election officials say the protections are strong enough to safeguard votes.
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Law enforcement’s call for video evidence of illegal behavior during the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd is sparking concern about the use of facial recognition on peaceful protesters.
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The San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, the city workers’ pension fund, reported a data breach affecting around 74,000 members, and the data may have included some sensitive information.
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Technology that can track whether students, and even college football fans, are feeling symptoms of COVID-19 could be a major part of the plan to reopen Alabama college campuses and stadiums this fall.
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According to the Federal Trade Commission, scammers and other bad actors are sending text messages that tell the recipient that someone with whom they have had recent contact has tested positive.
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A large drone flew over Minneapolis last week during protests about the death of George Floyd. The drone belongs to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but it's unknown who requested the aircraft.
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Over the next several weeks and months, courts around the country must figure out how to resume operations in a way that keeps employees and visitors safe, yet also safeguards the constitutional guarantee to a jury trial.
