Connecticut

Experts say investigators probing the Connecticut State Police traffic ticket scandal should use data from GPS systems in department cruisers to help determine if thousands of suspected tickets were fraudulent.

A planned overhaul of Connecticut's aging election infrastructure with more than 3,000 new tabulators may not be ready in time for the 2024 elections unless officials move soon to approve funds for the machines.

Several Connecticut lawmakers are open to the idea of a policy that would place more regulations on police using automatic license plate readers as departments continue to use the devices without outside oversight.

Gov. Ned Lamont's administration is looking to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, in sync with a coalition of other states that have pledged to hasten the transition to electric vehicles.

The University of Connecticut will not renew its contract with Navigate 360, formerly known as Social Sentinel, after the social media surveillance company frequently spammed police officers with false alerts.

Despite pushback, plans to construct a 165-foot cell tower in the southern part of Brookfield, Conn., are moving forward, with the tower expected to also provide wireless services to portions of Danbury and Bethel.

Plus, Mississippi nets more federal funds to connect residents to affordable Internet, Connecticut directs $10 million to upgrade its senior centers, and more.

Under a new Vision Zero bill, cities would be able to create local laws for speed and red light cameras, hold hearings on the issue and locate monitoring devices in areas with histories of crashes and traffic violations.

Lawmakers in the state are considering a bill that would allow police agencies to charge a fee for body camera footage. Under the proposal, police could charge as much as $100 an hour to redact requested footage.

A Connecticut law requires every police officer and patrol car to be equipped with body and dashboard cams, but there is no mechanism to enforce the mandate and no one is keeping track of compliance.

The Connecticut Special Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has issued a report outlining the implications of the use of algorithms and the potential for discrimination.

A new Connecticut bill in the General Law Committee would establish an Office of Artificial Intelligence and create a task force to study the emerging technology and develop an AI bill of rights.

While they acknowledge concerns about an AI tool that can write essays for students, professors from the University of Hartford, University of Connecticut and Yale also see its limits and a need to redesign assessments.

In the recently released 2022 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence analysis, eight leading states were recognized for their work with data and evidence to guide policymaking decisions.

The new technology, which was developed in-house, consists of motion sensors and flashing lights and is meant to stop wrong-way drivers. This year alone, there have been two dozen deaths related to wrong-way driving.

State auditors found 16 areas of concern at Western Connecticut State University, including that it did not sanitize electronic storage devices in a timely manner nor adequately document their disposal.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved $52.5 million in funding for the state to build on its existing base of electric vehicle chargers over the next two years.

An initiative in Connecticut aims to expand programs at colleges across the state in emerging and in-demand fields such as cybersecurity, virtual modeling, software development and digital analytics.