Justice and Public Safety

Spokane may soon outlaw kiosks that allow people to purchase crypto without going to well-known digital marketplaces — and according to law enforcement, have become a tool for scammers.

Prepared, launched in 2019, is gaining ground with its assistive AI tools for emergency dispatchers. Andreessen Horowitz again invested in the young company, known for its livestreaming and translation tech.

Flock’s Nova platform for law enforcement reportedly used data gained from breaches. In response, the gov tech supplier is defending its product evaluation process and says it won’t use information from the dark web.

The city is calling for tech companies to send proposals for such a program, via a request for qualifications. In it, officials suggest drones might be first on scene to 911 calls, better informing emergency crews.

The technology is increasingly being used by state and local police agencies, and lawmakers are considering a proposal that would limit and regulate their acquisition and deployment.

Officials in the central Pennsylvania county have sent a warning to residents that their information could have been put at risk by a “data privacy event.” They are probing an incident potentially involving civil court data.

Flock Safety, a license plate reading tech firm that recently bought a drone company, is taking heat over the data sources for its new platform. It’s not the only law enforcement technology attracting concern.

Veritone has inked a public safety redaction deal with Technology North, which hires people on the autism spectrum to help remove sensitive data from evidence, the latest move in gov tech to help neurodivergent people.

A school district in Atlanta’s northwest suburbs hired ex-intelligence officers to gather information on students without a vote from the school board, drawing criticism and protest from parents.

Government Technology analysis of IC3 data reveals which states lead in government imposter scam reports. Are governments leveraging technology enough to protect citizens from digital impersonation?

Emergency dispatch officials in Fairbanks, Alaska, the interior’s most populous city, have moved to a cloud-based communications platform for increased resiliency. Doing so enables staff to work remotely if needed.

A 19-year-old college student in Massachusetts pleaded guilty to charges linked to cyber extortion crimes, including threats to leak the personal information of of more than 60 million students and 10 million teachers.

The scam uses AI-generated text and voice messages to establish rapport with potential victims as a means to gaining access to personal information, often sending the victim a link to click.

Connecticut lawmakers on the state and national level are pushing for new Internet-related legislation aimed at protecting children, citing a state insider investigation.

Salem City Schools contracted with Coram AI for a security system that connects to a school's camera feeds and monitors for visible threats like firearms, smoke, or unauthorized intrusions, which trigger an alert.

Texas-based startup Campus Guardian Angel hires professional drone racers, military veterans and former law enforcement officers to combat school shooters with on-campus drones piloted from a surveillance hub in Austin.

To fight enrollment fraud, the state chancellor of California Community Colleges has proposed to raise security around the state's online application portal and begin charging students a fee "in the tens of dollars."

The online tool makes information available on every neighborhood in the Pennsylvania city. Years in the making, it includes data dating to Jan. 1, 2024, with near real-time updates, and may add older details.