Public Safety
Covering topics such as corrections, criminal justice, emergency management, gun control and police/fire/EMS.
It’s about governance and whether these systems can avoid reinforcing existing inequities. States, local governments and agencies need to move to embed fairness, transparency and accountability into every stage of AI use.
A Los Angeles Fire Department Captain filmed a searing critique of the city council’s vote last week to require city employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by early October. Many firefighters oppose the mandate.
A police employee accidentally deleted 22 terabytes of case files when trying to migrate data between servers. Officials say they’re now working to recover what they can and prevent future issues.
Election workers were the targets of harassment, threats and intimidation during the 2020 elections. Proposed legislation would make it illegal to harass election workers and would punish offenders with jail time, a fine or both.
A new report claims the city has failed to address longstanding practices of excessive force and racial discrimination. The police department says the report is an ‘attack’ and contains misinformation.
Since the beginning of this year, six people have died in jail custody and the county’s sheriff’s office has only publicly announced one of the fatalities. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 10 people have died.
The policy had allowed some officers to earn tens of thousands of dollars in overtime pay and will no longer be allowed. The department was spending almost $50 million a year in overtime.
Police officials didn’t support a recent proposal for gunshot detection technology, but as violence increases, the City Council is looking for a mobile version of the technology. So far, nothing is within budget.
With deadly wildfires across the state, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said that the federal government will do a better job providing more personnel and funds to assist the firefighting efforts.
Local governments could turn to special assessment districts to cost-effectively assure safety improvements, bypassing occupants’ foot-dragging and dysfunctional homeowners’ associations.
The county has started requiring its police officers to wear a body camera after launching training courses that began in early July. They expect all officers to finish by October.
A special two-person team hopes to crack down on the most prolific and violent criminals. By the end of 2020, 305 people had been shot in Denver — a 51 percent increase from the year prior.
The Washington state Legislature passed more than 300 bills last session and many of them become laws this weekend. From drug possession to education, here’s a snapshot of what’s new in the state.
While the rest of the developed world has made progress in reducing the number of pedestrians killed by vehicles, America continues to move in the wrong direction. Author Angie Schmitt talks about root causes and solutions.
Over-reliance on fees, fines and forfeitures drives a wedge between police and the communities they serve. It's detrimental to both crime-solving and the profession of law enforcement.
Law enforcement agencies across Tampa Bay claim that they do not have an issue with racial profiling and yet six major police departments and sheriff’s offices in the area couldn’t offer any data when requested.
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