Justice and Public Safety

So-called “TASER drones” have been proposed as one way to secure schools. An interview with the CEO of public safety tech vendor Axon illustrates how the situation is more complicated than deploying armed robots.

Court documents are revealing the extent to which Santa Clara County, Calif., officials went to crack down on restricted religious gatherings at the Calvary Chapel megachurch during the height of the pandemic.

Los Angeles Unified School District is rolling out four apps, including one available to the public for anonymous reporting and another that essentially functions as an internal 911 system only for staff.

The nonpartisan Campaign for Our Shared Future is raising money to offer a range of services to educators targeted by political attacks, from legal support to threat assessments and cybersecurity measures.

The Los Angeles City Council has opted to delay a vote related to the donation of a nearly $300,000 robot for the police department's SWAT team. Members of the public and the council voiced concerns about the device.

The hackers behind an early February cyber attack have published personal employee data. That data includes current and past employees' Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, birth dates and addresses.

Several Albany-area districts have partnered with BusPatrol to equip their bus fleets with stop-arm photo enforcement technology that captures license plates of illegal passers and is funded by tickets paid by violators.

Amid lingering concerns about surveillance and safety, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to accept the donation of a dog-like robot for the LAPD.

Commissioners in Macon-Bibb County, Ga., approved the use of security cameras in downtown Macon late last month, raising privacy concerns and sparking debate over surveillance.

The San Antonio-based startup company Darkhive last year won $1 million in pre-seed funding as it shopped around small, 3D-printed drones.

Personal information, including Social Security and driver's license numbers, may have been accessed in the Feb. 3 cyberattack against the Modesto Police Department, officials have announced.

The Solano County Office of Emergency Services has launched the "Know Your Zone" campaign to better prepare residents and businesses in all seven Solano County cities for emergencies and evacuations.

For years, a locked cellphone belonging to the suspect in a Pasadena, Calif., homicide sat in an evidence room as investigators tried to get around the device's security measures, but police may have now caught a break.

Recent financials paint a picture of how gov tech suppliers will move past COVID and embrace rising concerns about public safety. A “moonshot” goal and the labor market will also play roles in the months to come.

The $3.5 million gunshot detection system from ShotSpotter Technology Inc., now two years old, continues to be a controversial issue among city leaders, community members and law enforcement.

Following the discovery of unusual activity on police department computers, officials called in a cybersecurity firm to identify the source of the issue. Town officials do not believe any data was breached in the incident.

The proposed agreement with Flock Safety would see a dozen automated license plate readers placed around the city at a cost of no more than $65,000, according to an agenda report.

Town officials have approved a plan that would run fiber-optic cable for high-speed Internet service to the town office and police department. The use of existing equipment will make the project more cost effective.