Justice and Public Safety

The idea behind killware, a new type of cyber attack, is to disable or manipulate the electronic or computer equipment that humans depend on, resulting in potential harm or death to individuals.

Since the pandemic prompted Minnesota courts to find ways to conduct proceedings without meeting in person, judicial officials have gained experience with using video conferencing, leading to benefits and drawbacks.

As users turn to Facebook to share info about crimes ranging from petty theft to murder, police are struggling to follow false leads on the website — and, sometimes, to protect people wrongly accused of serious crimes.

Starting Friday, all Rockford Police Department officers and detectives are expected to be trained on body-worn camera operations as well as on an 18-page policy report on how the cameras are to be used.

On Wednesday, the Kentucky Supreme Court was asked to decide whether police should be allowed to track people in the community by pinging their cellphones without a court-issued search warrant.

Police and city officials on Tuesday unveiled the department’s $3 million Real Time Crime Center, which features all-seeing live technology nestled in a hub on the fourth floor of police headquarters.

An announcement Monday from Amazon’s self-driving car unit Zoox that it will soon start testing its autonomous vehicles in downtown Seattle drew criticism from transportation safety advocates.

The Big Sky Fire Department, located in the community of Big Sky, Mont., is testing out Pano's AI wildfire detection technology to help increase fire visibility and improve response efforts.

The device, called the Raven, is going through beta testing now and will launch for general sales in January. It’s designed to detect gunshots, as well as other sounds such as glass breaking, and activate nearby cameras.

Dallas police have chosen First Sign, an early intervention system by Benchmark Analytics developed in partnership with University of Chicago researchers who’ve studied police misconduct for several years.

A new study focusing on police conduct reviewed 500 body camera videos from the Newtown Police Department in Connecticut. The researcher, a former officer, says body cams are "essential."

Vera Eidelman, staff attorney for the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, said people need to think about the wealth of information they're giving up when they use genetic testing kits for fun.

As detailed in a 116-page newly released strategy, city officials in New York City are looking to proactively build ethics into machine learning and AI usage as the technologies become vital pieces of everyday life.

Privacy advocates have filed a lawsuit against Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle for sharing license plate information with out-of-state agencies. The sheriff's actions appear to break California's sanctuary laws.

The Fremont Police Department in California has been testing electric vehicles for a few years and is in the process of making its fleet fully electric. However, full adoption can't occur until charge times are reduced.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto III, long a holdout against equipping deputies with body-worn cameras, disclosed Thursday night he has signed an $8.7 million contract for the technology.

Gov. Mike Parson intends to prosecute the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after the newspaper published a report detailing how Social Security numbers could be easily accessed through a state agency website.

The company, which also offers grant assistance, online training, digital wellness and other tools, has gone through three mergers since its acquisition by a private equity firm in 2014. Now that firm is selling it off.