-
Tech NewsPolice Release Bodycam Footage of Encounter With Nasim Aghdam Hours Before YouTube Shooting
On April 3rd, a woman named Nasim Aghdam entered YouTube’s main campus in San Bruno, California through a parking garage and opened fire, wounding three employees of the video-sharing platform before fatally shooting herself in the chest. Just hours before, Aghdam had been stopped by police in Mountain View. Footage of the encounter, released by … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsPrivacy and SecurityNASCAR Events in Texas Are Now Guarded By Devices That Take Down Unauthorized Drones
NASCAR has hired DroneShield, a company that sells devices that look like oversized cosplay weapons but which actually remotely disable UAVs, to protect its sporting events. Per TechCrunch, NASCAR has contracted with the company for races held at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, which hosts many of the racing league’s events like the … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsPrivacy and SecurityPhotoshop Contest: Make Us Some Cooler Pics of This Stingray Spy Device
Phone-spying devices often known as Stingrays—or, more accurately, cell-site simulators—are back in the news. Only this time, it’s due to fears that foreign spies are roaming the streets of Washington, DC, to potentially listen in on government employees’ phone calls. The biggest problem for journalists covering these devices, the use of which is a closely … Continued
By Dell Cameron -
Tech News
This Was the Radio-Equipped Policeman of the Future in 1934
If you’ve seen any old gangster movies, you’re probably familiar with the phrase: “Calling all cars, calling all cars!” It became a cliche for when police headquarters sent out an alert via radio. But radio hasn’t been around forever. And at the dawn of radio technology, there were some pretty goofy-looking devices anticipated for the … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFacebook
Police Departments Warn Facebook Users to Stop Allegedly Sharing a Child Abuse Video
Police departments across the country are warning Facebook users that a child abuse video captioned with a vague plea to identify the perpetrator is spreading across the site via direct messages and status updates—and that sharing this nightmare chain letter or even viewing its contents is, obviously, a crime that could result in serious penalties … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsNews
Kentucky’s Biggest City Wants to Send Surveillance Drones Into Neighborhoods After Shootings
The mayor of Louisville, Kentucky wants to create the nation’s first fleet of aerial surveillance drones programmed to respond to gunfire. Speaking to press Wednesday, Mayor Greg Fischer said unmanned aerial vehicles could be key to curbing the city’s gun violence. “The No. 1 issue is using all means we have to increase public safety, … Continued
-
Tech NewsNews
Los Angeles Man Charged With Manslaughter Over ‘Swatting’ Death
Authorities have charged 25-year-old Los Angeles man Tyler Barriss with manslaughter for allegedly placing a hoax call that led to a Wichita, Kansas police officer shooting and killing an innocent man, the L.A. Times reported. Court records released on Friday showed that prosecutors charged Barriss with involuntary manslaughter, interference with law enforcement, and making a … Continued
By Tom McKay -
io9TelevisionBlack Lightning Has a Chilling Racial Profiling Scene Inspired by Showrunner Salim Akil’s Life
Though the CW’s Black Lightning isn’t slated to premiere until next week, there are certain things about the show and its titular hero you can easily discern without having seen them. Black Lightning is a (retired) black superhero operating outside the law. Of course he’s had run-ins with the police. Black Lightning’s issues with law … Continued
-
Tech News
Hand Sanitizer Alters the Results of Breathalyzer Tests in New Experiment
If a police officer pulls you over for driving while intoxicated, you could be brought in for a breath alcohol test. If that happens, you’d better hope the test operator doesn’t slather their hands in an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, first. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers make frequent appearances in law enforcement offices—they’re often found next to the … Continued
-
Tech NewsNews
LA Cops Allegedly Film Themselves Planting Cocaine on Suspect With Their Own Body Cams
Newly released body camera footage from a hit-and-run arrest in April appears to show two LAPD officers planting drugs in a suspect’s wallet, selectively filming only portions of the arrest to implicate the man for drug possession. Sam Levine, the suspect’s defense attorney, alleges that the officers staged the recovery of a baggie of drugs … Continued
-
Tech NewsGadgets
The LAPD Has Decided It Needs Drones
The Los Angeles Police Department approved a test program to deploy drones alongside its officers on Tuesday, with the Police Commission voting 3-1 to roll out a year-long “small Unmanned Aerial System” program. Per the L.A. Times, the hotly contested decision allows police in the city to deploy the robots in a variety of conditions, … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsSploidCops in Dubai Are Getting Real, Very Dangerous Looking Hoverbikes
Police in Dubai may soon have access to functional hoverbikes, according to AutoBlog, which reported that Dubai Police had unveiled the new technology in conjunction with Russian company Hoversurf at the Gulf Information Technology Exposition last week. Per Autoblog, the Scorpion hoverbike is capable of flying approximately 16 feet (five meters) in the air, moving … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
Man Arrested for Facebook Page Parodying Police Sues Cops, Wants His Damn Xbox Back
A Cleveland-area man acquitted of a felony charge for creating a parody account of his local police department has filed a lawsuit against the city of Parma, two of its police officers, and a third law enforcement official, alleging a violation of his civil rights. Anthony Novak, 28, was arrested last year for creating a … Continued
By Dell Cameron -
io9Books & Comics
Batman: White Knight Is Telling a Dark Story About Police Brutality
The idea that Batman is the true source of the evils that plague Gotham City isn’t exactly new, but it’s one that DC’s comics have largely left unexplored, leaving fans to debate it among themselves. In Sean Murphy’s Batman: White Knight, the publisher is finally getting in on the Great Batman Debate and pushing it … Continued
-
Tech NewsPrivacy and SecurityCitizen, the Creepy Crime-Fighting App Formerly Known as Vigilante, Somehow Gets $12.2 Million
Citizen, the extremely dubious rebranding of Vigilante—an app which notifies users of 911 reports near them and encourages them to go out and shoot videos of the crimes and their aftermath—has somehow managed to acquire a new round of eight-figure funding. Per Government Technology, Citizen has raised $12.2 million in Series A funding from 32 … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsGadgets
NYPD: Whoops, Turns Out Our New Windows Phones Are Now Worthless
It’s been roughly two years since Microsoft released a new Windows Phone, and it looks like the company has basically decided its awful, single-digit market share warrants a reimagined approach which might not come for some time. So it’s a little strange the NYPD, which is so much larger and well equipped than any other … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsPrivacy and SecurityKalashnikov’s Ominous New Police ‘Shield’ Looks Like Something Out of a Soylent Green Reboot
Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian arms manufacturer best known for its eponymous line of rifles used by militaries and militants alike the world over, has developed a new riot control vehicle which looks like something straight out of a dystopian hellscape, but is unfortunately extremely real. The vehicle, dubbed the “Shchit” or Shield in English, vaguely … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsNews
President Trump Will Reverse the Ban on Free Military Gear for Cops
Brace yourself for unsettling news. Attorney Jeff Sessions just told a huge group of law enforcement officials in Nashville that President Trump will sign an executive order that reverses an Obama-era ban on the military giving equipment to local police for free. That means that cops will once again have access to tanks, bayonets, grenade … Continued
-
Tech NewsNews
New Report Finds Police Have Used Tasers in a Staggering Number of Killings
Axon (the company formerly known as Taser) claims that their stun guns have only directly killed 24 people, and that those deaths were due to falls or fires related to the strikes, not because of shocks to the body. But a new investigative report by Reuters found 1,005 cases in the United States where a … Continued
-
Tech News
Police Commissioner to Baltimore Cops: Please Don’t Use Body Cams to Falsify Evidence
On Tuesday, the Baltimore Public Defender’s Office released footage it says shows officers planting drugs and staging their discovery for body cameras, the second such video to be released in the last two weeks. Prosecutors have now dropped more than 40 felony cases that relied on testimony from the officers seen in the videos. In … Continued