Sep 27
It’s tempting to write off all this drone hysteria
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Aug 19
Google Glass Gets An App To Power The Cyber Cops And Futuristic Firefighters Of Tomorrow
Posted in: Today's Chili
Google Glass has lots of potential applications beyond just making it easier for people to check out their Twitter feed without taking their phones out of their pockets. Mutualink is demoing one such app today at APCO, a conference for public safety communications, with its Glass App for police, firefighters and first responders.
The app would allow public safety officers and officials to communicate in real-time via streaming video from the scene, as well as to receive and view key documents, including things like building schematics, medical records of victims, live feeds of security cameras in the area and more. It’s the ultimate on-demand intel platform for agents working in the field, and a way to stay in contact with HQ and other organizations even when radio systems won’t talk to each other.
Of course, there could be privacy concerns with such an app. Recently, news came out that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other officials in the U.S. oppose the idea of police body cameras, suggesting they’d be open to all kinds of dangerous interpretation. Mutualink says its solution emphasizes agency control of media and recording on glass, so privacy would be in the hands of the cops and other officials using them and should be protected.
A tactical heads-up display being used by safety officers is a natural fit for Glass, and as the enforcement agents would be using the head-mounted computer as part of their uniform, they wouldn’t have to worry about looking like idiots, so this could be a place where Google actually finds some long-term adoption. Mutualink is also already a service provider used by NATO Special Operations Forces, homeland security, police and fire departments, so it has the relationships in place to make this happen.
It’s not Robocop, but it’s a step closer. Worst downside I could see is a risk for information overload, and this will probably require a lot of training before it sees field use, but it’s at least worth exploring whether or not this could help really save lives.
Apr 25
With so much crazy going around these days, its a hairy time to be in law enforcement. But with this door-breaching, bullet-stopping, car-towing robo-tank in front of them, SWAT units will be unstoppable. More »
Mar 29
A recent city noise control ordinance in Boston has cops cracking down on roving rock shows that don’t take place in formal venues. So they’re posing as punk rockers online to sniff out concert locations so they shut them down more easily. Only problem is their police work reads like an out of touch parent trying to talk to a teen about that new fangled rock and/or roll. More »
Feb 10
Christopher Dorner, the ex-LAPD cop who allegedly killed three people has been on the run, successfully evading police, for over a week. To finally track him down, it seems that law enforcement is pulling out all the stops. According to the Express, Dorner is now a target for drones, among the first ever on U.S. soil. More »
Feb 05
The Veritable Pocket Laboratory Cops Have to Carry to Test Drugs on the Street
Posted in: Today's Chili
The cops pull over a car doing 75 in a school zone. The driver is behaving errratically, so they pull him out of the car for a search and bingo: a small bag of white dust in the perp’s pocket. But what is it—baking soda, cocaine, arsenic? To find out, they rely on this series of chemical tests. More »
Dec 01
If you thought plasticuffs were the future of restraints, well, you might still be right. But handcuff technology is also preparing to fork in a much more high-tech direction. According to some recent patents, the future of handcuffs may be shocking. Literally. Shocking you. With electricity. More »
Oct 01
Ready the spandex and decide on a name for your alter ego, because come October 16th, you’ll have the chance to fight crime from the comfort of your computer. On that date, the “Connected To The Case” website goes live with the aim of crowd-sourcing tips from its users to help the cops solve active investigations. You’ll use your Facebook login for access, as the service pulls data from your profile to prioritize cases with which you might have a connection. Morgan Wright, CEO and Chief Crime Fighter of Crowd Sourced Investigations, told us its system looks at five key areas when digging for pertinent triggers: “date, location, time, relation and demographics.” It then uses that data to tailor notifications of unsolved crimes based on — for example — proximity to your school, or where you used to work. Rest assured that you control the privacy settings, and if you’ve got useful info to share, you can do so anonymously.
Law enforcement agencies can register to include their cases from today, with the initial roll-out targeting the
Continue reading Connected To The Case to use Facebook for crowd-sourced crime solving
Filed under: Internet
Connected To The Case to use Facebook for crowd-sourced crime solving originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 16
It’s not the backdoor access that the FBI has been pushing for, but US District Judge William Pauley III has now ruled that it and other law enforcement agencies are entitled to view your Facebook profile if one of your “friends” gives them permission to do so. As GigaOm reports, that ruling comes as part of a New York City racketeering trial, in which one of the accused, Melvin Colon, had tried to suppress evidence turned up on Facebook that led to his indictment. That information was obtained through an informant who gave investigators access to the profile, something that Colon had argued violated his rights against unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment. In the ruling, Judge Pauley dismissed that claim, likening the Facebook access instead to a phone wiretap in which one person on the call allows the government to monitor it — a practice that has been ruled constitutional. GigaOm also has the ruling in its entirety at the source link below for those interested.
Filed under: Internet
Judge rules Facebook users can share friends’ profiles with the feds originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 09
PlayBook Mobile Responder app puts police tools in a finger-friendly package
Posted in: Today's Chili 
The PlayBook may not have taken off in the consumer market, but its enterprise-friendly features may help it find a home elsewhere — especially now that it’s packing a speedy 4G radio. Fresh on the heels of the LTE edition hitting Canadian shores, Intergraph has unveiled its Mobile Responder app that turns RIM’s slate into a formidable tool for police and other emergency responders. The app taps into the company’s Computer Aided Dispatch system, which pulls in data from police databases, keeps dispatch centers just a tap away and allows the immediate filing of incident reports. The suite is getting its first public demo next week at the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Nova Scotia. For more, check out the PR after the break.
Continue reading PlayBook Mobile Responder app puts police tools in a finger-friendly package
Filed under: Tablet PCs, Software
PlayBook Mobile Responder app puts police tools in a finger-friendly package originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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