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Could law enforcement officials have done more to prevent it?

The painful and inevitable question has frequently dogged the police after shootings. Experts say that most mass shooters display warning signs before becoming violent, and officials have often received tips, calls or reports about concerning behavior, sometimes long before someone picks up a weapon.

But law enforcement officers, at least under traditional police training, are limited in what they can do in response. If a crime has not been committed or a subject does not meet the criteria to be sent for an involuntary mental health evaluation, the case is often closed.

Full story: Can Police Prevent a School Shooting If a Threat Is Not a Crime? – The New York Times

Oklahoma City’s police department is one of a handful to experiment with AI chatbots to produce the first drafts of incident reports. Police officers who’ve tried it are enthused about the time-saving technology, while some prosecutors, police watchdogs, and legal scholars have concerns about how it could alter a fundamental document in the criminal justice system that plays a role in who gets prosecuted or imprisoned.

Built with the same technology as ChatGPT and sold by Axon, best known for developing the Taser and as the dominant U.S. supplier of body cameras, it could become another “game changer” for police work.

AI technology is not new to police agencies, which have adopted algorithmic tools to read license plates, recognize suspects’ faces, detect gunshot sounds, and predict where crimes might occur. Many of those applications have come with privacy and civil rights concerns and attempts by legislators to set safeguards. But the introduction of AI-generated police reports is so new that there are few, if any, guardrails guiding their use.

Full story: Police officers are starting to use AI chatbots to write crime reports. Will they hold up in court?

The two Raleigh Police officers who jumped in to save people stranded in the Neuse River on a Saturday afternoon in August are sharing what happened.

Around 2 p.m. on August 17, multiple agencies responded to the Neuse River near Raleigh Beach and found three people struggling in the water. After a few days since everyone was rescued safely, the two officers are able to look back on it with a lighter attitude, but in the moment, they say they did the only thing they could.

Full story: Raleigh police officers who saved person from Neuse River share their story

When Yao Xie got her start as an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, she thought she would be researching machine learning, statistics and algorithms to help with real-world problems. She has now completed a seven-year stint doing just that, but with an unlikely partner: the Atlanta Police Department.

Xie leveraged artificial intelligence to work with the department to cut down on potentially wasted resources and to implement a fair policing system free of racial and economic bias.

She’s part of a growing group of professors at higher education institutions teaming up with neighboring law enforcement agencies to chip away at the potential of AI for police departments—while they also deal with problems inherent to the technology.

Full story: Universities partner with police on AI research

Pennsylvania drivers were pulled over and cited by state police last year at roughly comparable rates for various races and ethnicities, according to information about 450,000 vehicle stops that was made public on Wednesday.

Researchers also found that trooper decisions about how to enforce the law after they stop someone are most strongly based on legal factors and not the drivers’ or troopers’ race or ethnicity.

However, troopers in the field were slightly more likely to engage in “discretionary” searches of Black drivers’ vehicles than those of white or Latino drivers when the drivers’ criminal histories were factored in, the report said.

Full story: Pennsylvania troopers stop drivers at similar rates no matter their race or ethnicity, study finds

The San Marcos Police Department said it will share information more quickly than in the past during “critical incidents,” including mass shootings, natural disasters or events where police seriously injure or kill someone.

In the crisis communication policy it rolled out last month, the department said it will share initial information with residents and the press within two hours of an incident and will hold a news conference within two business days.

SMPD said it will not release bodycam footage if it believes it will impede an investigation. Video could be released after a grand jury has reviewed all the evidence or if it would “further a law enforcement cause,” such as identifying a suspect or helping residents identify an immediate threat to the community.

Full story: San Marcos police vow to release info on incidents sooner, but not necessarily bodycam footage

The NFL is using facial-recognition technology this season for those credentialed for games, including for players, media and vendors. Without a trace of irony, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, with the backing of the department, said they are concerned such technology compromises the officers’ privacy…

Full story: Las Vegas police officials say the new NFL access policy compromises officers’ privacy

Law enforcement — along with many other fields in the public sector — has struggled to hire enough staff. While 2023 saw staffing increases after years of decline, police departments around the country continue to see shortages in critical areas.

For many younger Americans, becoming a police officer is no longer an appealing career path. They may shy away from policing for a variety of reasons. For some, the image of police has taken a hit due to high-profile shootings. Others express financial concerns, while many young people have expectations that law enforcement cannot meet, such as remote work.

Full story: Why It’s So Hard to Recruit Police Officers

The courts say you have a right to video-record the police. They also say police have the right to do their work unimpeded. And with the spread of ubiquitous video-recording devices, those two rights have increasingly come into conflict.

Arizona passed the first such buffer zone law in 2022, and it specifically banned video-recording police from less than eight feet. The law was challenged and overturned, partially on First Amendment grounds. Since then, Indiana, Florida and Louisiana have all passed laws that set a distance, but don’t explicitly ban video.

Verite News is one of several news organizations taking part in a lawsuit brought by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press challenging Louisiana’s 25-foot buffer zone law, which took effect this month.

Critics of buffer zone laws say police can already arrest people for obstructing their work; but if a state codifies a specific distance, it may give police reason to arrest people who are just passively observing them.

Full story: Four states passed buffer zone laws for police and first responders. Journalists sue over the right to record : NPR

In the nearly three weeks since an Illinois deputy sheriff was charged with murder after fatally shooting Sonya Massey, observers have questioned how and why the officer — who had worked for six law enforcement agencies in four years — kept on getting hired.

According to an NBC News review of police hiring laws in Illinois, Grayson’s hiring did not appear to have violated state or local police hiring policies. And an NBC News review of hiring practices around the country shows that there is a patchwork of hiring standards that vary from state to state and from community to community.

Experts say the hiring standards in many small law enforcement agencies are often lower than those of large city agencies. Nearly 85 percent of the country’s 18,000 state and local police agencies employ fewer than 50 officers, according to data from the U.S. Justice Department. And there are no national laws governing how state and local police agencies, including sheriff’s offices, hire and vet their applicants. Compounding the problem is a nationwide police shortage fueled by the police killing of George Floyd and the wave of protests, police retirements, and drop in applicants that followed. The shortage has forced many chiefs and sheriffs to choose from lower-quality applicants.

Full story: Sonya Massey killing sparks renewed scrutiny of police hiring