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Nokia made a smart, fashionable jacket for first responders
Nokia has been creating unconventional products for years, like that weird touchscreen made of ice from 2010. And now, at MWC 2018, the company is showing off a new, offbeat project that's in the works: the CHASE (connected health and safety equipment) LifeTech FR (first responders) jacket. This smart garment was designed in collaboration with Kolon, a South Korean fashion brand, and GINA, a software developer from the Czech Republic. While the CHASE LifeTech FR may look like a traditional bright piece you'd see on a cop or firefighter, there are a few things that make it different than your average first-responder jacket.
Felony charges dropped after officer admits faking body cam video
Police body-cam footage is supposed to be an objective account of what happens during a traffic stop or whatever's taking place when an officer's device is activated. The emphasis is on the "supposed to be." Recently, a Colorado case was dismissed after it was discovered that police officer Seth Jensen allegedly recreated the search of Joseph Cajar's vehicle after his November 2016 arrest, according to local publication The Pueblo Chieftain.
Body cameras will be given to 'over 22,000' London police
To help keep the peace, more than 22,000 London police officers will soon be given body cameras. The roll-out begins today -- six months later than former mayor Boris Johnson had anticipated. The new hardware, supplied by Taser, won't be recording around the clock; instead, officers will need to hit the shutter manually and notify the public "as soon as practical." A red light and beeping noise will indicate new recordings. The footage will then be uploaded to a secure server where it can be used as evidence in court. If it's not required, the data will be deleted automatically after 31 days.
Researchers could help cops tap into public surveillance cameras
Researchers from Purdue University found a way for law enforcement to tap into any surveillance camera that's not password protected. As Wired points out though, the goal with this newly developed system isn't to help cops perform questionable acts, but rather make it easier for them to figure out how to better assist during a crime or emergency. To make that possible, engineers developed tools smart enough to find open-network surveillance cameras, including public ones, and then send their location to officials who are looking to scan a nearby scene.
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]
Fitbit tracking data comes up in another court case
When you wear Fitbit or any other fitness tracker and smartwatch, you not only monitor your physical activities, you also collect data about yourself -- data that can apparently be used against you in investigations. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania cops responded to a 911 call by a woman who claimed she was raped by a home invader. The woman told the police she woke up around midnight with the stranger on top of her, and that she lost her tracker while struggling against her assailant. However, authorities found her Fitbit, which recorded her as active, awake and walking around all night. Combined with the evidence that was missing (tracks outside in the snow from boots she said the attacker was wearing, or any sign of them inside), an investigation led to her facing misdemeanor charges.
SWAT app wants to help you keep a close eye on cops
After visiting Ferguson, Missouri recently, a pair of Georgetown students realized the need to access cellphone videos of police misconduct in the event a device is destroyed. With that in mind, Brandon Anderson and Joseph Gruenbaum set out to develop the SWAT app -- software that sends your footage to the cloud in the event your phone itself is confiscated or smashed. In addition to safely beaming videos to a server for later use, the app also allows you to file complaints without having to visit a police station. Plus, it'll tell you about your legal rights (using your GPS coordinates to determine the applicable jurisdiction). That way you can quickly read up on the proper local, state and federal laws should the need arise. The project is in its infancy, but there's no questioning its utility once it becomes a fully realized mobile app. For now, Anderson and Gruenbaum are looking for tech and legal partners to get the endeavor off the ground, and you can sign up to be a beta-tester at the source below.
North Dakota cops use a drone to nab three suspects in a cornfield
Both the Argentine and the UK police have nabbed bad guys with the help of drones in the past, but what about American cops? Well, the police department in Grand Forks, North Dakota, for one, is putting its drone to good use -- just recently, the city's cops have caught four underage men who've been pulled over for drunk driving using a quadcopter called Qube. The teenagers reportedly ran into a cornfield after being pulled over, but instead of giving chase, the cops flew their trusty Qube to find them amidst rows upon rows of corn.
The Art of Wushu: Doing the time for doing crime
Bounties are the primary way that PK victims in Age of Wushu get to fight back against their assailants. If you murder someone, your victim can force you to spend time in jail and pay a constable for the service of putting you behind bars. Much as in EVE Online's original bounty system, there are a few kinks. Overall, it works reasonably well, but there is a disconnect between the intent of the system and how it actually works. As a career criminal, I feel that having a bounty and dealing with it is what separates professional killers from mass murderers.
Ford adds Surveillance Mode to squad cars, alerts cops to unexpected humans
For many police officers, their cruiser's front seat is often their office -- but a parked car isn't always a safe car. With Surveillance Mode, Ford hopes to keep your city's finest a little safer in the heat of the night. By combining its existing driver-assist tech -- backup cameras, power door locks and cross-traffic alerts -- the Dearborn automaker has devised a system to signal officers of a potential attack from behind. When a potential assailant crosses into the rear camera's viewing range, Surveillance Mode sounds a chime, the windows roll up and the doors lock. This ought to give officers valuable extra time to apprise the situation at hand. It may not be a tumbler, but it's a start. Oh, and don't fret about your local black and white's sanity: Surveillance Mode can be deactivated at will, so gaggles of pedestrians won't set off the alarm every five minutes.
Judge rules Facebook users can share friends' profiles with the feds
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.
Flying cops board gyroplane for Big Brother-style eyes in the sky
"Get to tha choppa!" is probably the first thing the Tromball, Texas cops will be shouting now that they're the proud owners of America's first police gyroplane. This type of aircraft is nothing new, but for the 5-0 testing the Auto-Gyro MTOsport, it's a cheaper and simpler alternative to a helicopter -- and way sweeter looking. For the price of two high-end squad cars (around $75,000), the heat can go air-bound, compared to $1-4.5 million for a standard whirlybird. The machine also requires far less pre-flight prep before soaring 13 feet per second into the sky only to max out at a face-melting speed of 115 mph. With a rotax motor, pilots can dip from the air quickly and easily since the copter's already in autorotation, unlike a standard helicopter, which requires some heavy maneuvering. The downside? It's horrible at night and in bad weather, meaning the cops will have to keep those Crown Vics in the garage, just in case.
NYPD creates social networking unit to pick perps, not poke them
You've heard of the Special Victims Unit, but what about the Social Networking Unit? The time has come for criminals dumb enough to boast about their exploits on Facebook and Twitter to pay the proverbial piper. According to NY Daily News, the Big Apple's newly minted Assistant Commissioner, Kevin O'Connor, will enlist the department's juvenile justice unit to hunt down ne'er-do-wells on various social networking sites. So remember, even if your friends don't care about the Cookie Puss you just posted to your Facebook page, somewhere out there someone is watching.
BlackBerry PlayBook gets arrested, finds itself toggling light bars in a police car (video)
Look, there's no question that Canada looks out for its own, but if you reckoned that it also let everything slide... well, think again. One D&R Electronics has apparently thrown a BlackBerry PlayBook into a Canadian Dodge Charger, signified by a red maple leaf and the oh-so-distinct use of the word "ayeouuut." Put simply, the 7-inch slate has been coded up to flip on the overhead / side lights, search police databases for names and faces, accept commands wirelessly from an in-car keyboard, and even be fully detachable for those times with mobility is of the utmost importance. You know, like playing Angry Birds while waiting in line to cross the border. Head on past the break to have a look, won't you? [Thanks, Dan]
BodyGuard stun-glove leaps out of comic books, into the arms of LA Sheriff's Department
What's better than a seasoned crime fighter? How about a seasoned crime fighter packing a 300,000-volt punch? A new prototype stun-glove is poised to make such Robocop-inspired dreams a reality, integrating a non-lethal taser, LED flashlight, and laser guided video camera into a fetching piece of futuristic armor. Activated by pulling out a grenade-like pin and palming an embedded finger pad, the Armstar BodyGuard 9XI-HD01 sparks a loud and visible arc of electricity between its wrist-mounted taser spikes, a sight that inventor David Brown hopes will encourage would-be crooks to surrender. The gauntlet's hard plastic shell is even roomy enough to add GPS equipment, biometrics, chemical sensors, or other embedded additions, as needed. The first batch of pre-production superhero gloves will hit the streets of LA later this year for testing and evaluation. Need more? Check out the via to see Kevin Costner (what field of dreams did he walk out of?) take the edge off this shocker in a surprisingly dull video.
Brazilian police live out Robocop fantasies, test glasses that scan for criminals
In advance of the 2016 Olympics 2014 World Cup (and the thousands of visitors it'll draw), military police in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are testing glasses topped with cameras capable of scanning crowds for criminals. The camera analyzes 46,000 biometric points on up to 400 faces per second -- data that then gets compared with a database of up to 13 million people. If a mug happens to match a wanted person or known troublemaker, a red light will appear on a small screen connected to the glasses. And, in a twist particularly befitting Robocop, the glasses can purportedly be calibrated to zoom in from 12 miles away, though they'll typically be used to manage crowds at a much more personal 50 meters (164 feet). For now, local cops will use them to tame crowds (and likely brawls) at soccer matches and even concerts, but hope to eventually monitor those crowded World Cup stands. As for us, we're all kinds of curious. Where do those tens of millions of faces come from -- Santa's naughty and nice list? What if people wear masks? Or sunglasses at night?
Naked Florida man opens fire on SWAT bot with AK-47, no kidding
"Investigators say they've never dealt with a naked man attacking a robot before." So starts perhaps the most insane local news story we've ever heard. According to an ABC affiliate in Florida, a disgruntled man, sporting nothing more than his birthday suit and an AK-47, opened fire on a robot last week, after threatening to shoot himself and anyone who crossed the threshold of his home. The $65,000 SWAT bot was sent in to investigate, and captured every inch of the man on video before being pumped full of bullets. Deputies say the man eventually surrendered fully-clothed and was taken for a mental evaluation. No word yet on when or if the footage will be released in a Robo COPS: Disrobed and Dangerous Special Edition. For now, you can check out video at the source link below.
CCTV cameras help solve 'six crimes a day' in London, says Metropolitan Police
Been questioning the value of having omnipresent surveillance cameras tracking your every move? Well, if you're an outlaw, you still won't like them, but for the rest of us law-abiding types, London's Metropolitan Police has a comforting stat to share: almost six crimes a day are being resolved with the help of CCTV footage. It's being used primarily to aid the identification of perps on the run, and the number of suspects identified as a result has gone up to 2,512 this year. There is a bright light for criminals, however, as the Met admits digital recordings aren't kept around as long as VHS ones used to be, meaning that if you slip the dragnet once, you'll probably be alright. So good news for everyone!
Screen Grabs: Dell Streak recruited into NCIS:LA for some undercover duty, fights evil Adamo XPS
Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. Dell's product placement deal with CBS apparently doesn't stipulate whether its gadgets will be used for good or evil, as illustrated by their cameo appearances on the network's NCIS:LA crime drama. In last night's episode, lead do-gooder Special Agent Callen is seen preparing a Streak tabletphone for some audio recording action before a meeting with the baddies -- who in turn whip out an Adamo XPS (yes, it's still alive!) to seal a deal for some ultra-advanced weaponry. Yep, it's a non-stop cliché extravaganza! [Thanks, James and Tarek]
Cops hacking iPhones for information
I used to think that if I ever got hit by a car while out and about (God forbid, of course), the most useful place to find identifying information would be in my wallet. But that's not really the case any more. As cops are learning these days, the best place in a person's pockets to learn about them is their iPhone. Not only is the phone full of contact information (and indeed, I've included an "ICE" number on every phone I've ever had), but it's also got lots of other information about me, including where I've been lately, what kinds of things I've searched for, and even what apps I've used and how often. Besides the obvious places (in the apps themselves), there's a lot of information that you as a user don't have access to. iOS apparently caches both screenshots and text used while multitasking and spell checking, so even if you don't actively save information on your iPhone, odds are it's there anyway. Before you panic and decide to ditch your iPhone for privacy's sake, keep in mind that whoever's trying to get this information needs to have direct access to the iPhone itself. At this point, hackers can't dive into your phone over the air and steal your secrets (most of them, anyway). But this type of "iPhone forensics" is very useful for cops trying to figure out what anonymous victims have been up to lately. Thanks, Colin!
