Justice and Public Safety

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has launched a pilot program using virtual reality technology to improve engagement and relationships between incarcerated parents and their children.

Ohio and 39 other states have reached a $391.5 million settlement with Google over the company's deceptive location-tracking practices — the largest multistate privacy settlement in U.S. history.

Automatic license plate readers are alleged to be part of a vast and growing system of unlawful and unaccountable surveillance overseen by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, according to a recent court petition.

In the wake of a school shooting in Uvalde, the popularity of the state's own iWatchTexas system lags behind other online or app-based reporting tools such as the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System and STOPit.

Joe Swanson — the vice president of CTRL, the new privacy and cybersecurity compliance consultancy at Tampa-based law firm Carlton Fields — weighs in on the changing nature of digital threats.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based tech company has agreed to a settlement with 40 states to resolve allegations that it misled consumers about how it tracked, recorded and shared their device location data.

The Virginia Department of Education is distributing funds especially to schools with frequent problems, to be used for mass notification systems, security card access systems and surveillance for schools and buses.

New technology being used by the San Luis Obispo Police Department now allows residents to track crime reports and also to provide feedback in real time, the agency has announced in a news release.

The Washington city first began talks of implementing body cameras and in-car dashboard cameras back in 2015, but funding to make it happen wasn’t approved until last year. Officers began wearing the devices Oct. 31.

The California Department of Justice recently launched a new online portal that gives survivors of sexual assault a way to track the status of the DNA evidence kits associated with their cases.

The NYPD spent nearly $3 billion on surveillance technology in a 12-year stretch but continues to flout the law requiring it reveal details of each contract, according to two advocacy groups.

Proponents are hopeful that after yet another extension earlier this month of the pandemic-era rule that expanded its use, virtual proceedings will find a more permanent place in the courtroom.

The new TravelSafely app, released Thursday, aims to make streets safer for drivers, walkers and cyclists. The app connects drivers to an electronic network of intersection and crosswalk data, and to each other, city officials said.

Talks between the city and Hawaii media outlets have not resulted in an agreement to reopen public access to emergency services radio traffic. Officials say the channels will remain closed for at least 90 days.

The Daviess County Council has voted in favor of an update to its public safety radio system after encountering problems and service gaps. The fix will cost nearly $73,000 and will require all new equipment.

The search for answers is ongoing in the case of the Oct. 20 ransomware attack against the 85 partners of the Midland Information Technology Consortium. Email and phone services have been restored, officials say.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula has long been susceptible to wildfires and more so in recent years, and in response, Rancho Palos Verdes has approved wildfire-detecting cameras, at $140,000 annually for five years.

The license plate reading system that is placed throughout the city at undisclosed locations has helped find kidnapped children, arrest murder suspects and recover stolen vehicles. But it comes at a cost to privacy.