Justice and Public Safety
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Resilient regions and organizations require well thought out disaster plans addressing recovery and mitigation. In creating them, state officials said, collaboration with other governments and communities is essential.
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While mobile IDs promise new access for people with disabilities, a "one ID, one device" model and accessibility failures threaten to exacerbate the digital divide, according to experts in the field.
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Officials are upgrading software designed to share data from police agencies, dispatchers and jail staff. A popular online log of inmate mug shots has gone dark during the update but emergency response systems are unaffected.
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In an effort to improve Calistoga's policing, six automated license plate reader cameras will soon be installed at the entry points of the city, making Calistoga the first Napa County city to directly lease the devices.
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Weeks after New Orleans opened the door for police to use facial recognition, the city passed another ordinance aimed at creating new restrictions and reporting requirements on the controversial technology.
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The Anderson, Ind., Police Department recently received funding to purchase a drone as well as the accompanying software package to use it through a community safety grant from CenterPoint Energy.
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Under the terms of a recently approved ordinance, the city council must approve the use of technology that can monitor and identify individuals. The policy came out of controversy surrounding surveillance tech across the city.
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The seller of gunshot detection tech had sued VICE Media for defamation after the claim was published in a Chicago case. The suit has been dismissed, but VICE has issued an editor’s note on the story.
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The Willimantic, Conn., Police Department began using the cameras on July 1, and this week department officials told local media that "the body cameras have assisted police with several investigations in the past month."
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Cities, especially those in fire-prone areas, are increasingly exploring tech-based alternatives to traditional fireworks shows. While not everyone is a fan of the switch, officials are discovering unexpected benefits.
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Yellow Alert systems are meant to help police track down suspects involved in fatal hit-and-run crashes through tips from the public. They are similar to the Amber Alerts issued for abducted children.
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Dubbed the Automated Injustice Project, the group is raising questions about whether safeguards are in place when state officials are relying on AI to make crucial decisions in areas such as health care and justice.
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After several years of pushing, the Phoenix Fire Department has officially launched its unmanned aircraft systems program, laying the policy and best practices groundwork for other city departments to follow suit.
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The New York Police Department must disclose thousands of documents and emails revealing facial recognition surveillance of Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, a judge has ruled recently.
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The updated crime blotter replaces a manual process and will share information and tweet out each incident on a new blotter Twitter account after the reports have been reviewed and approved by a supervisor.
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It's rare that an electric bus catches on fire with only 18 reported cases globally, and after one of Connecticut's electric buses burst into flames the NTSB stepped in to investigate.
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California legislators will renew discussion over a bill to penalize Facebook, Snapchat and other large companies for the algorithms and other features they use to keep minors on their platforms for as long as possible.
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Police reform advocates speak out against Florida's transparency database, saying it doesn't include citizen complaints and some police officers with controversial histories don't show up at all.
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The product, called the Gateway, is designed to bridge the gap between new and old emergency call technology. The joint software launch from the two companies comes amid larger improvements for 911 communications.
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New Orleans City Council voted for a new local ordinance that will roll back, at least partially, a previous ban the city had enacted on various police surveillance methods, including facial recognition.
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The Leawood Police Department has added a Tesla EV to its fleet of patrol cars, doing so after the department began researching electric vehicles last year in response to unfavorable reviews of hybrid patrol cars.