Justice and Public Safety

Following months of debate, the Detroit City Council will vote next week on an $8.5 million expansion of ShotSpotter, a controversial gunfire detection system, to combat crime in neighborhoods.

The new integration is designed to help police, fire and medical personnel gain more precise location data in emergencies. The deal marks the latest gov tech partnership involving U.K.-based what3words and U.S. firms.

A privacy act limits how long law enforcement can retain images captured by plate readers, which take photos of plates, store the data for up to six months and have been touted as a game-changing crime-solving tool.

The case, which involves prison escapes and the use of an altered identity, was finally solved by investigators recently, in part, using a mixture of old and new technology, police officials said.

JusticeText, launched in 2021, has attracted some big names for its $2.2 million seed round. The company produces automated transcripts of video to help public defenders handle an ever-increasing load of video evidence.

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services is launching a study to re-think school bus safety and design features, including technology to reduce speeding and automatically apply brakes during reckless movement.

A Fulton County special grand jury is looking at an election data breach some 200 miles south of metro Atlanta, which legal experts say suggests that prosecutors are seriously weighing racketeering charges.

Officials say the existing Oroville Police Department radios are outdated and have been failing on a regular basis. The devices must be replaced to meet U.S. Department of Justice requirements.

The Series C funding round comes amid other recent and sizable investments in the emergency dispatch and public safety tech space. Carbyne has raised $128 million so far, and has reported a big U.S. revenue jump.

City health and emergency workers in Allentown, Pa., are seeing the positive impact of the video remote interpreting technology as part of a pilot program to improve health-care accessibility.

A West Virginia school district will connect facial-recognition software to a database of faculty, staff and parents who are approved to visit school grounds, thus allowing front office personnel to identify visitors.

The number of cameras capable of detecting vehicle descriptions and license plate numbers as cars traverse streets will more than double after action by the Greensboro City Council on Tuesday night.

New sensors atop Marin’s Mount Burdell are the latest additions to the West Coast ShakeAlert network. The system is a collaboration between universities in California, Oregon and Washington and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Security cameras that scan and record the license plates of every passing vehicle will be installed this month at four intersections in St. Mary’s Point, a small city on the St. Croix River in Minnesota.

The Buffalo Police Department's computer network is back up following a hardware failure that knocked it out Friday evening and through the weekend, Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said Monday.

Buffalo Police Department brass are talking with representatives of ShotSpotter about setting up a pilot program in the city’s Masten District to evaluate what the company calls its "acoustic gunshot detection service."

A state initiative will use $6.5 million in federal funds to finish creating digital maps of New Jersey's 3,000 public and private schools, including interior and exterior layouts, doors and surrounding areas.

Lawmakers have introduced legislation that, if passed, would require all vehicles built after Jan. 1, 2024, that are registered in New York to include advanced safety technology, including speed-limiting capabilities.