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LAPD bans the use of Clearview's controversial facial recognition software
After Buzzfeed News showed leaders evidence of unauthorized searchers, officials issued a new ban on using the controversial platform,.
After Math: Tesla goes budget and California has gas car ban plans
This week we saw Amazon roll out a bunch of next-generation Big Brother gear, including dash cams and an indoor camera-copter, in an ongoing effort to normalize its all-encompassing, inescapable surveillance schemes. The UK announced this week that it has put the disgraced former CEO of Cambridge Analytica, Alexander Nix, in businessman time out until 2027. Elon “Im going to put a chip in your head” Musk has never been one to shy away from making grandiose forward looking statements but if he can keep his word from this year’s battery day — the one about being able to build batteries at half the current cost per kWh and usher in the era of $25,000 electric cars within tree years.
'Predictive policing' could amplify today's law enforcement issues
Law enforcement in America is facing a day of reckoning over its systemic, institutionalized racism and ongoing brutality against the people it was designed to protect. Virtually every aspect of the system is now under scrutiny, from budgeting and staffing levels to the data-driven prevention tools it deploys. A handful of local governments have already placed moratoriums on facial recognition systems in recent months and on Wednesday, Santa Cruz, California became the first city in the nation to outright ban the use of predictive policing algorithms.
Data breach compromises info for 20,000 LAPD officers and applicants
Los Angeles police officers are the victims of what appears to be a serious data breach. The city's Personnel Department has warned the LAPD that intruders stole personal information for roughly 2,500 officers and 17,500 officer applicants, including names, dates of birth, partial employee serial numbers and login details for the applicants. More info may have been taken, an official told NBC Los Angeles.
LAPD arrested a 25-year-old suspect in Wichita 'swatting' case
Thursday night Wichita police killed Andrew Finch after responding to a call claiming a man at his address had shot someone and was holding others hostage. That call was a hoax, commonly referred to as "swatting," and in this case, it's apparently linked to a Call of Duty match, where one player passed a fake address to another before someone called the police to it. Now NBC News reports that police in Los Angeles have arrested 25-year-old Tyler Barriss, who is believed to have made the call inciting the incident. Barriss may be the "SWAutistic" who tweeted about making the call and later participated in a phone interview with the DramaAlert show on YouTube. An LAPD spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that Barriss is in custody, no bail has been set, and that they are working with Wichita police on the case. The LA Times reported in 2015 that he had been arrested for calling in a bomb threat to a TV studio, and in the YouTube video, SWAutistic claims to be responsible for bomb threats that interrupted an MLG Call of Duty event in Dallas earlier this month.
Los Angeles police will test drones despite privacy concerns
American police have certainly used drones before, but not on this scale. The Los Angeles Police Commission has voted in favor of letting the LAPD fly drones in a year-long pilot program, making it the largest US police department to ever rely on the robotic aircraft. The force will use the drones for aerial searches, recon in tense situations (think: standoffs) and other tasks where officers would otherwise be at risk. The machines could save lives, according to the LAPD, but there were numerous concessions made to address privacy concerns -- and some people still aren't convinced these limits will prevent abuse.
LAPD adds 100 BMW i3 EVs to its non-emergency fleet
After considering BMW's i3 and Tesla's Model S to replace a group of aging vehicles, the LAPD awarded the bid to the German automaker. 100 of the electric vehicles will be used as part of the department's motor pool that's mostly used by civilians, but they'll be available to officers on "routine assignments" as well. Along with the EVs, 104 charging stations were also included in the contract. With the total electric vehicle count now sitting at 168, the LAPD says it has "the largest fully battery-powered municipal fleet" in the US.
LA cops aren't ready to switch to Teslas
After using two Tesla Model S cars as police cruisers for a year, the LAPD has reached a verdict. It's not ready to transition to an all-electric fleet just yet, but it's not closing its doors on EV cruisers. LAPD Administrator Vartan Yegiyan told CNBC that electric vehicles aren't practical for police use at the moment due to their costs and the availability of charging stations.
California police use these biometric scanners
Police are increasingly turning to biometric tech in the field. It's supposed to help cops verify the identity of suspects, but there's a real concern that they could abuse this to get personal details on record -- and the Electronic Frontier Foundation wants you to know when this hardware might come into play. The rights group has published a report detailing the biometric scanners in use by California law enforcement, and they're in more widespread use than you might think. Mobile fingerprint readers are in use at several departments, and face recognition is getting traction. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is using tattoo recognition, and some police departments are looking into iris scanning.
City of LA's electric vehicle fleet includes a Tesla Model S
For anyone who thought that Los Angeles' efforts to turn its traffic problems green would end after a partnership with Waze, think again. The City of Angels has committed to leasing 160 battery-powered electric vehicles and 128 plug-in hybrids for its municipal fleet. A post on the LAPD blog says that the police, fire, general services, water and power departments will split the former, while the general services will also take all of the latter. Mayor Eric Garcetti says that this move puts LA closer to its goal of becoming the "most sustainable city in America."
LAPD's body cameras roll out Monday, but footage won't be public
Come Monday the Los Angeles Police Department begins its deployment of body cameras for officers. The initial rollout is limited -- only 860 of the proposed 7,000 cameras will hit the streets at first -- and the SWAT team won't get them until sometime after mid-September, according to The Los Angeles Times. The LAPD "doesn't plan on" making the recordings public unless a criminal or civil court case attached to them, though. The American Civil Liberties Union says that this blanket refusal to make all captured video public means that police departments can cherrypick what footage they do choose to distribute and essentially use it as PR for good deeds while keeping less-than-applause-worthy footage out of the limelight. Of course, one way around that would be setting up a YouTube channel like Seattle did, but that brings about its own set of critics. [Image credit: Associated Press]
Los Angeles police don't want you flying drones over their stations
The cops may be eager to experiment with drones for tracking bombs and (possibly) suspects, but they're apparently not that keen on people turning the tables. The LAPD claims that activist Daniel Saulmon was trespassing when he flew a machine over a Hollywood police station's parking lot. He was spying on "private property," Lieutenant Michael Ling claims. As you might imagine, Saulmon (who has a history of recording officers on the ground) disagrees. He didn't step inside, after all, and he contends that law enforcement doesn't have the same privacy rights as individuals.
LAPD embraces the clean and silent electric motorcycle
If we were ever asked to ride an electric motorcycle, our first instinct would be to make NYEEEEAWWWW noises to compensate for the vehicle's silent engine. That's precisely why we're not employed by the Los Angeles police department, which has just bought an electric motorcycle for stealth operations. The department has only ordered one of the vehicles so far, purely as a test of its potential, but given that it produces no emissions and can be charged for less than a dollar, shouldn't displease the force's bean-counters. Of course, the lack of a tailpipe also makes this ideal for activity within buildings, so expect police chases in the near future to be a lot more exciting than the average freeway dash.
LAPD has a new tool for crowdsourcing photo and video evidence
Citizen-provided evidence is clearly on the up. With the amount of cameras knocking about, this is hardly surprising. However, when something goes down at a large public event, the mass of well-meaning user-submitted evidence can cause data bottlenecks, or a stretch of resources making sense of it. This ends up potentially doing more harm than good. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department has sought to resolve such issues by working with Amazon's Web Service to create an app for submitting photo and video evidence that takes advantage of AWS's deep bandwidth pockets. Called the Large Emergency Event Digital Information Repository (LEEDIR), the web, Android and iOS apps serve as a direct line, and central repository for user-generated evidence. Unsurprisingly, some privacy advocates are twitchy about the idea of bystanders caught on video being implicated, but its creators claim that this is something that professional law enforcement is equipped to deal with such issues as a matter of routine. Currently the app is being used as part of investigations for a recent riot in Isla Vista, but it's hoped it could become a routine tool for similar events in the future.
Former Call of Duty strategist Robert Bowling foils late-night Robotoki robbery
Former Call of Duty series Creative Strategist Robert Bowling played a heroic role in an attempted robbery last night at the Robotoki offices, scaring off a pair of burglars during a late-night shift. An on-site security video captures the dramatic encounter in its entirety. In a matter of seconds, the office's front doors were smashed in, and the burglars entered. Upon seeing Bowling leap toward them, the robbers then beat a hasty retreat. "Unfortunately for them, I work late," Bowling quipped. The robbery marks the second time police have visited the Robotoki offices in the last year, as LAPD officers stormed the building in 2013 after a designer accidentally tripped its silent alarm system. Bowling, again the sole employee remaining in the building at the time, was taken into temporary custody while officers engaged in a brief standoff with a window-facing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 statue. While Bowling can apparently get away with these kind of superheroics unscathed, foiling robberies on your own is inadvisable, even if you've played thousands of hours of Call of Duty and have devised a series of burglar-snaring traps, à la Home Alone. Sometimes, though, the element of surprise is enough to save the day.
E3 organizers set the fuzz on OUYA over parking lot cheekiness
The next-gen console war is truly on and E3 is the battleground. As IGN found out, though, fighting spirits have extended beyond the walls of the Los Angeles Convention Center, where Android console-makers OUYA and the ESA (which runs E3) are embroiled in an ongoing tussle. It started when OUYA decided to attend E3 "on its own terms," setting up a stand in a parking lot opposite the Expo to attract attention without paying E3 fees. The ESA responded by renting its own parking spaces and using trucks to obscure OUYA's stand. But for every patch, a hack is soon to follow, and OUYA then rented additional spaces in front of the trucks to put up some banners. The ESA then called the cops, who turned up on their monster Segways to see what was what. After checking OUYA's permits, the LAPD were satisfied nothing illegal was going on and split. Apparently, OUYA founder Julie Uhrman has contacted the ESA to talk it out, but hasn't received a response. Perhaps the association is too busy planning its next attack, but Uhrman is prepared: "If ten more trucks show up, we'll come up with another idea. I have a few up my sleeve." [Image Credit: IGN]
Robotoki offices stormed by LAPD after designer unknowingly presses panic button
Robotoki, the development studio founded last year by ex-Call of Duty creative strategist Robert Bowling, was stormed by LAPD forces last Thursday after its offices' silent alarm system was activated by an unnamed designer on his way out of the building. Bowling, the only employee on site at the time, was temporarily taken into custody while the building was cleared by a four-man team – a process that involved a momentary standoff with Bowling's life-size statue of Modern Warfare 2 character Simon "Ghost" Riley, pictured above. "Our studio is equipped with a 'panic' alarm in case of an armed threat, which was installed yesterday," Bowling told Polygon. "One of our designers, who shall not be shamed, pressed it on his way out because apparently when boys find buttons that they are unsure of, their first instinct is to push it." The true cause of the incident remained unclear until security footage Bowling reviewed the day's security footage. No charges were filed or fines levied due to the false alarm.
LAPD's new LED flashlights now available to the public
Those of you jealous of the LAPD's new blinding yet less weapon-like flashlights don't have to settle for weaker substitutes any longer, as all 130 lumens of Pelican's 7060 model flashlight are now available to the general public. For those not up to speed on the flashlight industry, this particular model weighs in at just 10 ounces, and promises to throw a beam for a full 90 minutes straight without losing intensity. According to Pelican, the LAPD isn't the only police force keen on the flashlight, with 1,500 other police departments already on a waiting list to evaluate the flashlight. Those looking to get the jump on them, however, should now be able to pick up a 7060 at a Pelican distributor near you.
LAPD getting the 'Cops' treatment at all major events
Considering that UK traffic wardens are already wielding handheld camcorders to record their daily activities, it's not too shocking to hear that the LAPD will soon be implementing a similar, albeit more extreme, version of employee recording. In the wake of the "MacArthur Park melee," the department's chief has stated that a camera crew will now "follow officers through major incidents, recording their actions from the early roll call to the after-incident report." Supposedly, this all-seeing crew will ensure that police remain on their best behavior, and moreover, it promises that videoed evidence will always be available in the case of a discrepancy. As if that wasn't enough Big Brother for you, the station has also announced plans to equip a helicopter with a long-range HDTV camera that will beam back images to a command station. At this point, they might as well yank the UK's hovering drones too and save the effort.[Image courtesy of Polizeros]
LAPD's blinding new flashlights too light to beat suspects
It's kind of sad when one of the main features being touted by the LAPD about its new flashlights is their inability to provide suspects with a good beating, but after that very public 2004 incident in which a motorist took 11 blows from a heavy 'torch,' we guess the new model's light weight is indeed an important selling point. The 10,000 Pelican 7060's that officers will soon begin carrying -- specifically designed for the department of Rodney King fame -- sport two separate power switches, a no-slip 'grenade grip,' cooling fins on the shaft, and 130 lumen LEDs that are said to be capable of momentarily blinding a non-compliant individual. Sounds like good news for criminals and the falsely-accused, but maybe not so great for that cop in the direct path of a raging meth-head; in those situations, we'd take the cold hard steel aluminum of our four D battery MagLite over a wimpy Pelican any day of the week.[Via The New Zealand Herald]
