Justice and Public Safety

Nothing is getting easier about being a CIO, not with climate change and ransomware and other problems that require big, coordinated tech responses. A new report seeks to prepare state tech leaders for what’s to come.

The department is fine-tuning a pilot program in which drones buzzing over beaches could drop flotation buoys to struggling swimmers. The idea is to give imperiled swimmers something to hold on to as a lifeguard responds.

The proposal to spend $12 million on a network of police cameras over the next five years was approved by the city’s Public Safety Committee last week. The proposal now heads to the City Council for consideration.

Early intervention software could soon help the San Francisco Police Department to identify "at-risk" officers. The police commission is considering an upgrade in the hopes that it fends off future lawsuits.

The Michigan Supreme Court has expanded new technology to make mediation services available to parents with busy and unpredictable schedules — but can domestic issues really be settled through text?

Police officials say the more than three dozen Flock Safety cameras placed throughout the city will help identify criminal suspects by capturing license plate information at major intersections.

In the state’s busiest courthouse this week, clerks, attorneys and judges are preparing for a software launch designed to bring much-needed modernization to the state’s antiquated judicial system.

A crash in San Francisco involving a driverless Cruise taxi happened at an inopportune time for autonomous vehicle companies, which were already under scrutiny by state regulators.

The leader of North Carolina’s Division of Motor Vehicles is urging officials to delay new digital court software in Charlotte, citing concern over how it transmits data on things from DWI convictions to fatal crashes.

After discovering 250 cases in which the state police allegedly used covert surveillance tech without turning over the evidence, the Committee for Public Counsel Services is urging public defenders to start an inquiry.

The 31-year-old who co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX is facing a reckoning over what’s been called one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history by federal prosecutors.

The Butler County Clerk of Courts Office has streamlined its jury management system, modernizing the process of notifying potential jurors and seating prospective jurors in the courtroom for selection.

School district officials have explained that the district followed the legal procurement process and solicited bids for patrol vehicles from more than 90 vendors and auto dealers.

At stake are tricky questions about how the First Amendment should apply in an age of giant, powerful social media platforms, which currently have the ability to moderate the posts that appear on their sites.

Early intervention software is getting more sophisticated, with wellness dashboards and other features. In this era of heightened police-community tension, can these tools make the job both more accountable and attractive?

The gov tech vendor announced an integration with EagleView that will allow more access to geospatial data for first responders. Governments are increasingly looking to geospatial tools for more tasks.

Responding to a fatal shooting on campus last month, officials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are exploring technological solutions to monitor campus and make it more secure.

Independence police say they plan to outfit their officers with body cameras by January 2024 after the department received a grant from the Department of Justice that will pay for 200 body cameras and three additional positions.