Justice and Public Safety

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.

The automated voice messaging system meant to alert fire stations to incoming emergency calls is not working properly. A 911 dispatcher is now dedicated to calling stations to make sure fire staff don’t miss emergency calls.

The $300 million defamation claim accuses the news outlet of misrepresenting the technology's efficacy and inaccurately making data manipulation charges. ShotSpotter continues to face criticism as its technology spreads.

The law enforcement shooting death of Winston Boogie Smith Jr. stirred activists already calling for broad police reforms and sparked a fresh wave of protests near the Uptown Minneapolis site of his death.

The Goshen, Ind., Police Department will soon have its own virtual training simulator after being authorized to purchase an Apex Officer training simulator, making it the first department in the state to do so.

The Daviess County Sheriff’s Department has added new technology to help investigate crimes involving phones, computers and surveillance cameras, following a $51,300 grant from the state Office of Homeland Security.

The Bethel Police Department is seeking $125,500 to upgrade the department's current computer-aided dispatch and records management system software. Among other things, the system would allow for faster ticketing.