Legal
Hamilton County, TN, Sheriff’s Office To Begin Using Drones For Law Enforcement
The Hamilton County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Office will begin using drones to gather evidence for court cases, detect bombs and find missing persons. However, Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond assures the public the equipment will not invade people’s right to privacy. Hammond spoke Monday at a news conference to announce plans to use the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The Sheriff’s Office is among more than 80 law enforcement agencies, colleges and other government agencies across the country that have been granted or applied for permits to fly the aircraft, according to a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office news release. Hammond said Hamilton County’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security also has the equipment.
Sacramento Mayor Promises Police Reforms After Videos Of Fatal Shooting Made Public
Sacramento police on Tuesday released video that shows a mentally ill man running from police officers, then stopping to gesture at them before they shot him dead in July. The police released the video and related audio hours after The Sacramento Bee posted surveillance video of the incident it had obtained earlier Tuesday. Sacramento City Council members viewed the footage released by police in closed session Tuesday night. During the public portion of the meeting, Mayor Kevin Johnson promised to propose a set of police oversight reforms in coming days. The mayor said he felt a ?sense of urgency? for the city to take action.
Cities Seek Police Surveillance Transparency And Oversight
Legislative efforts began in eleven cities aimed at requiring police departments to be more transparent about the surveillance technology they use. The bills will also reportedly propose increased community control over the use of surveillance tools. These efforts, spearheaded by the ACLU and other civil liberty organizations, are important at a time when surveillance technology is improving and is sometimes used without the knowledge or approval of local officials or the public.
Maryland State Lawmakers, ACLU Consider Legislation To Regulate Police Surveillance
Maryland state lawmakers and civil liberties advocates are considering legislation that would regulate police surveillance programs —and require public disclosure— after the Baltimore Police Department ran a secret aerial surveillance program over the city for months. The head of the city’s delegation to the Maryland House of Delegates said the public should know where such technology is used, how the information is kept and the costs involved. The lawmaker, Del. Curt Anderson, is looking at proposing regulations in the next General Assembly session that all Maryland police departments would have to follow to do any kind of surveillance.
How A Prison Drug Smuggling Case In Kansas Led To A Showdown Over Recordings Of Inmate-Attorney Talks
When attorneys said in court recently that phone calls between lawyers and inmates at Leavenworth Detention Center had been recorded and obtained by federal prosecutors, the development was just the latest revelation in what a United States public defender says was a systemic violation of constitutional rights.
Robocops Are Here. It?s Time To Create Rules On How Police Should Use Them.
Micah Xavier Johnson, the Dallas shooter, will go down in history as a domestic terrorist who killed five officers and wounded nine others. He will also go down in history as the first person killed by an armed police robot. Johnson was killed in a standoff when Dallas police sent in a remote operated Remotec bomb disposal robot that had been jury-rigged to carry a pound of C-4 plastic explosives.
How Slow-Motion Video Footage Misleads Juries
From surveillance cameras to smartphones, today?s crimes are increasingly being captured on video. But could showing slow-motion replays of crimes in court be producing harsher verdicts? This is the suggestion from a new study published in PNAS by researchers at the University of Chicago, University of San Francisco, and University of Virginia. They argue that slow motion replays can give viewers ?the false impression that the actor had more time to premeditate before acting.? Participants were shown surveillance footage of either an attempted robbery in which the assailant shot the store worker, or an NFL player performing a banned tackle. Participants, who were recruited online using Amazon?s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing program, were shown the videos both at regular speed and in slow motion.
‘Predictive Policing’ Isn’t In Science Fiction, It’s In Sacramento
Sacramento —like New York, Houston, Miami, St. Louis, and other cities before it— is looking at the next step: the launch in October of a ?real-time crime center,? a central location from which officers could monitor all their existing surveillance technologies, PODs included. The idea is that consolidating information about criminal activity —from stalking complaints to potential lone wolf terrorist attacks— would make law enforcement more effective at investigating and perhaps preventing some incidents. The process would also promote accountability and transparency at a time of rising tension between police and the black community, providing evidence of both police and suspect behavior during tense encounters, proponents say.
Does Snapchat?s Lenses Feature Violate Illinois? Biometrics Law?
An Illinois man has sued Snapchat for alleged violations of a state law that requires users to expressly consent to instances in which their biometric information is used. This is the second time a plaintiff has brought such a case under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Last year, a Chicago man sued Facebook on similar claims.
Bavarian Data Protection Authority Issues Paper On Video Surveillance Under General Data Protection Regulation
On 6 July of this year, the Bavarian Data Protection Authority issued a brief guidance paper on video surveillance under the new European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). This short paper is the first issue within a series of non-binding guidance papers on selected topics in relation to the GDPR, which the Bavarian Data Protection Authority has planned to publish periodically. This is a significant step forward for EU countries to adopt a more uniformed approach to video surveillance retention policies.
MOBOTIX CORP Wins Patent Challenge Again
Following a request from MOBOTIX CORP to review the validity of U.S. Patent No. 6,975,220, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) ruled that the main claims of the patent are invalid and will be canceled.
Thorny Legal Issues Surrounding Body Cameras: From Privacy To Public Access
More and more law enforcement agencies across the country are outfitting their officers with body-worn video cameras and report better policing and public behavior as a result. But Jim Bueermann, president of the Police Foundation, a Washington, D.C. organization that helps improve policing through research and training, said ?There?s more we don?t know about the impact of body worn cameras than what we do know.? From privacy, public access, to cost.
World IP Video Surveillance And VSaaS Market Worth US$61.3 Billion By 2022
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the ?World IP Video Surveillance & VSaaS Market: Opportunities and Forecasts, 2015 ? 2022? report to their offering. According to a new […]
How Police Body Cameras Change Our Perception Of Right And Wrong
There was something about the sudden, near-universal praise for police body cameras that rubbed Seth Stoughton the wrong way. A law professor at the University of South Carolina who has […]
Grand Jury Hands Down Indictments In Waffle House Sex Tape Case
A Fulton County grand jury has issued indictments against two Marietta attorneys and their client for their roles in the illegal videotaping of a sexual encounter between the client and a former Waffle House CEO.
Appeals Court: States Can Restrict Concealed Weapons
Americans have no Second Amendment right to carry concealed guns in public, a federal appeals court in California ruled on Thursday in a significant blow to gun-rights activists and gun owners in a large swath of the Western U.S. The San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 7-4 ruling, upheld a California law requiring residents to show ?good cause? for carrying a concealed handgun. Under the California law, personal safety alone doesn’t qualify as good cause, which is defined by county sheriffs. The plaintiffs, gun owners seeking licenses to carry their weapons concealed, said the policies in San Diego and Yolo counties where they live violated their Second Amendment rights.
US Requires Drones to Be Registered
The U.S. Department of Transportation will require recreational drone operators to register their aircraft with the federal government. A new task force has been formed to determine which aircraft should be exempt from the registration The federal government will seek to register all drones, including the lighter, remote-controlled crafts favored by hobbyists, so it can track down any drone pilots who collide with other aircraft or violate rules for safe flights. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said recently the new rules will apply to hobbyists as well as commercial drone operators, who already register.
Workplace Biometric Technology Outpacing the Law
Whether they?re clocking in to work, trying to enter a secure room or driving a company car, many workers are finding that the procedures for these everyday workplace occurrences are changing. To improve efficiency, combat fraud, and boost employee health and safety, employers increasingly are adopting biometric devices. Biometric technology analyzes the unique characteristics of a person through his or her fingerprints, irises, retinas, hand geometry, facial patterns, voice patterns or DNA information.
PureTec Systems Announces New Patent for Video Analytics on PTZ Cameras
PureTech Systems Inc., an Arizona-based geospatial video analytics company, announced the issuance of a patent by the United States Patent Office – US Patent No 8,929,603 ?Autonomous Lock-On Target Tracking with Geospatial-Aware PTZ Cameras.? The newly awarded patent addresses PureTech Systems? technology growth in the area of utilizing video analytics on pan-tilt-zoom cameras whether stationary or on a mobile platform.
Viscount Patents QR Code-Powered Mobile Access Control Solution
Viscount recently patented a method of using QR codes for mobile-based access control. Viscount Systems has been awarded U.S. Patent 8941465 B2, outlining a system and method for physical access control using QR codes and mobile devices, as part of its Freedom Access Control Solution.