Category Archives: Expert Commentary

State officials don’t have a current count of how many police agencies in New Jersey use body cameras, but a survey by New Jersey Advance Media found that officers in four of our 10 most-populated towns don’t have them. Police departments in New Jersey and around the nation have rushed to outfit officers with camerasContinue reading “NJ.com: Police don’t have body cams in 4 of N.J.’s biggest towns. Here’s why.”

Washington, DCCNN Business—An audit of the Los Angeles police department is raising questions about new technologies law enforcement is using nationwide with little oversight. Last week, the department’s internal auditors, prompted by a community backlash, published online a review of the LAPD’s data-driven policing strategies and recommended more transparency, consistency and oversight of the programs.Continue reading “CNN: LAPD Audit Reveals Dangers of High-Tech Policing”

Nassau police partners with Ring customers to get video…

A study released Wednesday in the Justice Evaluation Journal links an increase in nonviolent crime in Denver with the legalization of marijuana. The study looked at crime rates from 2011 to 2016 on 187 blocks where dispensaries opened following legalization. Blocks with recreational dispensaries saw an 18 percent increase in property crime when compared toContinue reading “Denverrite.com: Property crime increased where Denver pot shops popped up”

Reports of serious crimes on the CTA rail system have doubled since 2015 even as ridership declined and such crimes rose only slightly citywide, according to a Tribune analysis of Chicago police data. At the same time, the arrest rate for these “L”-related crimes has dropped, suggesting that even as CTA’s rail system has becomeContinue reading “Chicago Tribune: Serious crime has doubled on Chicago’s ‘L’ system, despite the CTA adding thousands of security cameras”

In May, police in Hammond, Indiana, got a suspicious-person alert from a concerned resident. She could see a man, she told officers, through her Ring smart doorbell. The resident had already sent police another message, along with footage from her internet-connected video doorbell, about an earlier incident. Now the resident was even more frightened, havingContinue reading “C|NET: Amazon Ring Alerts Often Tie Up Police with False Alarms”

At 12:50 a.m. June 17, the sound of gunshots rips through a neighborhood in northern Columbia. A sensor relay picks up the sound waves, triangulating their origin — 5118-2 Mauldin Ave. Alerts are sent to officers, who converge on the scene, according to a police report. They recover seven shell casings from a .22-caliber firearm.Continue reading “The Post and Courier: When SC Residents are Afraid to Call the Police, Technology Alerts Officers of Gunshots”

A Major Police Body Cam Company Just Banned Facial Recognition. Its Ethics Board Says the Technology is Not Reliable Enough to Justify Using…

Tinted windows and hydraulic lowriders are so … 1990s. One of the latest trends in custom car modifications goes way beyond style —and some say it could cause a dangerous panic among pedestrians. The modification usually involves removing portions of a car’s exhaust system and “tuning” the computer that regulates a car’s fuel combustion toContinue reading “NBC News New York: I-Team Investigation: ‘Insane’ Car Modification Mimics Gunfire, Induces Panic”

If you’re walking in Bloomfield, New Jersey, there’s a good chance you’re being recorded. But it’s not a corporate office or warehouse security camera capturing the footage — it’s likely a Ring doorbell made by Amazon . While residential neighborhoods aren’t usually lined with security cameras , the smart doorbell’s popularity has essentially created privateContinue reading “C|NET: Amazon’s helping police build a surveillance network with Ring doorbells”