Justice and Public Safety

City public safety officials plan to assess drones from a variety of companies this winter and spring, and subsequently ask the city council to approve funding for a lease agreement. The cost of a program is unclear.

Inside a growing push from state and community leaders to modernize re-entry, reduce recidivism and strengthen public safety through technology. Digital literacy, one said, can be a major barrier.

The local government was among many nationwide that were impacted by a cyber attack on the CodeRED platform. Its owner has transferred the county and other subscribers to a new system.

After roughly 90 minutes of public comment, nearly all in opposition, the Flagstaff City Council voted to end its contract for automated license plate readers. The devices came into use last year.

Gov. Tony Evers has signed legislation authorizing the Wisconsin Department of Justice to award grants for platforms aimed at improving information sharing among law enforcement.

Flock Safety will maintain an existing network of 300 cameras to monitor the city’s busiest streets and local state highways for up to two years during a competitive search for a long-term vendor.

The Bismarck Municipal Court system handled nearly 87,000 new cases from 2020-2024 and saw a 40 percent caseload increase in 2024. Officials are examining what systems might be upgraded to handle the additional burden.

The state legislation would allow the inmates to get remote employment with approved businesses and companies that choose to participate in the yet-unnamed program.

The Town Board approved the installation of the cameras on municipal property at its work session earlier this week, with the number of planned cameras dropping from eight to four.

More than 3,000 of the company’s self-driving taxis have been recalled after reports they passed stopped school buses improperly. A Nov. 17 software update may have led to the inappropriate action.

City officials will explore other hosting options following the breach of the third-party notification service CodeRED. The system went offline after notification went out Nov. 21 of an incident.

When the Eaton Fire broke out in the foothills near Altadena, the Los Angeles County Fire Department did not have access to a satellite-based fire-tracking program regularly used by other agencies.

Police are harnessing the power of technology to help advance old investigations, and they are currently working to digitize all of their cold cases, hoping to be finished some time in early 2026.

High school students enrolled in a criminal justice class used virtual reality training equipment to get firsthand experience practicing de-escalation with police officers.

People in need of police, fire and medical attention can now share live video of their situations with dispatchers and first responders. Motorola Solutions and RapidSOS will help promote the tool to their own customers.

City Council members got an online tour of the new public-facing webpage, created as a reliable way to disseminate public safety information, earlier this week. It’s the latest update to an existing system.

The Kennewick police are getting several technology upgrades, including new taser weapons, virtual reality training, the AI-powered body cameras, enhanced records management and more.

The city’s police chief reviewed its contract with the vendor providing the cameras and will brief the Common Council, as officials contemplate placing more devices. The city, not the vendor, owns the data collected.