Justice and Public Safety

Police in Denver, Colo., used what some call a “digital dragnet” when they asked Google for search history related to a stalled arson investigation. The tactic netted suspects, but also kicked up privacy concerns.

The Petaluma Fire Department and the Sonoma Valley Fire District are turning to a new software application and iPads to better manage life-saving resources and personnel in chaos created by a fire.

The Frederick County, Md., Police Department has launched a new online reporting system that allows residents to file non-violent, non-emergency reports from their smartphone or computer.

The western Massachusetts law enforcement agency is without telephone and Internet service at all of its facilities following an unknown communications issue that began over the holiday weekend, officials said.

DFW is one of a handful of airports where the Transportation Security Administration has rolled out a new technology that matches a database of daily passenger names and birth dates with passengers on flights that day.

A machine learning tool designed to predict where crime might occur across eight major U.S. cities is also helping to highlight areas that are not receiving adequate police protection — often poorer neighborhoods.

State and federal judges and prosecutors are among the more than 200,000 people that had sensitive personal information, like addresses, exposed in the recent leak of state concealed handgun permit data.

The warrant authorized a search for evidence of threatening or intimidating electronic communications at the request of detectives in Connecticut after years of alleged hateful Internet messaging targeting judges.

The system, known as FUSUS, integrates a range of city-owned and civilian video sources into a central, cloud database. The feeds can be accessed by officers on their in-unit computers and via an app on their smartphones.

Kern County Fire Chief Aaron Duncan demonstrated the department's new technology during a press conference attended by representatives of various county agencies and local hospitals, which also provided safety tips.

Police in Lima, Ohio, are looking to custom-built technology to address a staffing shortage. The mobile device has cameras, sound detection, facial recognition software and license plate recognition capabilities.

Illinois law enforcement leaders fighting a surge in gun violence have launched a searchable database they say will allow departments to quickly access information on how illegal firearms are moving around the state.

In a recent quarterly briefing, representatives of the Cobb County Sheriff's Office touted a series of new technology purchases they said are aimed at improving safety for deputies and inmates.

A Texas school district this fall will implement the Raptor Alert System, which comes with a downloadable app that synchronizes responding entities with a website that manages the flow of K-12 district information.

A "virtual wall" could include motion sensors, infrared cameras, mobile towers and aerial drones, which is the type of surveillance technology already being used by the Border Patrol and other law enforcement.

The app, developed by Amazon subsidiary Ring, allows departments to view and share information with users. More than 2,700 departments are using the service around the country as of mid-June 2022.

Seattle has agreed to pay $1.5 million to a cannabis retailer to settle a lawsuit in which the company blasted the city for deleting text messages, a settlement among the largest lawsuit payouts by Seattle this year.

Utilities in the state are looking to new technology to fight an old problem: wildfires. Officials hope that by better predicting weather and risk patterns they can prevent and respond to the looming threat.