Justice and Public Safety

Tall poles with flashing blue lights, solar panels, cameras and loudspeakers are popping up in the parking lots of some Maine businesses, drawing attention, questions and criticism.

Law enforcement officials have cracked down on the illegal behavior, with some agencies using pickup trucks outfitted with cameras for a higher vantage point to peer into vehicles and catch distracted driving.

The city has an existing contract with gunfire detection company ShotSpotter, and will add its devices to the area, considered a shopping hub. The move follows a shots-fired incident earlier this year outside a mall.

New cars are packed with sensors and cameras these days, and among the newest locations for one is inside the rearview mirror, pointed backward toward the driver and passengers.

The potential for artificial intelligence to fabricate convincing audio and video of real people, which a disgruntled ex-employee in Baltimore recently did to smear a principal, is raising alarms about regulation.

In partnership with Miami-Dade Police Department and the Virginia-based company BusPatrol, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has installed stop-arm cameras on its school buses to catch drivers who pass illegally.

Joan Lawcewicz, a financial crimes investigator in Chippewa Falls, Wis., said that artificial intelligence has made this type of scam even more problematic and easier to fool the unsuspecting public.

Dedrone, the company Axon acquired, makes software, sensors and AI that help Ukraine defend against enemy drones — and protect utilities, prisons and public spaces in the U.S. Dedrone had raised $127 million from Axon and other investors.

The online guide, accessible via the Bridgeport Police Department website, aggregates information from emergency dispatch to show burglaries and vehicle thefts. Residents can view incident dates, times and partial locations.

Legislation filed last week, if passed, would go toward recruiting school personnel, continuing high school "learning hubs," expanding career and technology education programs, and putting security scanners in schools.

The Merrillville Police Department's adoption of drones has proved effective in their efforts to fight crime, according to a press release Monday from the town of Merrillville.

The company, which sells data integration software for state and local agencies, plans a hiring spree. The company is eyeing steady growth as more governments demand better ways to assemble and use data.

Lost data is just one lingering consequence of an April 2023 cyber attack on the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Officials will replace a compromised database, upgrade outdated hardware and harden cybersecurity.

Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders had been seeking approval to buy and pilot a small number of trackers in anticipation of rollbacks of state laws limiting police pursuits.

The owner of Clearfiber Inc., an Internet service provider in Monongalia County, was charged with money laundering after allegedly defrauding a United States Department of Agriculture grant program.

Video surveillance for security reasons is fairly common on college campuses, but as law enforcement increasingly uses facial recognition to identify suspects, protestors worry they could be targeted for expressing opinions.

Baltimore City Public Schools approved a four-year, $5.46 million contract to put AI-powered security scanners from Evolv Technology at 28 schools. Staff generally supported the idea, while students were more ambivalent.

After the success of an AI-powered wildfire threat detection pilot, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources envisions how a real-time camera response center could safeguard millions of acres of forestlands.