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Tag: body camera

  • Top Border Patrol official due in court to answer questions about Chicago immigration crackdown

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    A senior Border Patrol official who has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago is due in court Tuesday to take questions about the enforcement operation in the Chicago area, which has produced more than 1,800 arrests and complaints of excessive force.The hearing comes after a judge earlier this month ordered uniformed immigration agents to wear body cameras, the latest step in a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who say federal agents used excessive force, including using tear gas, during protests against immigration operations.Greg Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, one of nine sectors on the Mexican border, is himself accused of throwing tear gas canisters at protesters.U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis initially said agents must wear badges, and she banned them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. She later said she was concerned agents were not following her order after seeing footage of street confrontations involving tear gas during the administration’s Operation Midway Blitz, and she modified the order to also require body cameras.Ellis last week extended questioning of Bovino from two hours to five because she wants to hear about agents’ recent use of force in the city’s Mexican enclave of Little Village. During an enforcement operation last week in Little Village and the adjacent suburb of Cicero, at least eight people, including four U.S. citizens, were detained before protesters gathered at the scene, local officials said.The attorneys representing a coalition of news outlets and protesters claim Bovino himself violated the order in Little Village and filed a still image of video footage where he was allegedly “throwing tear gas into a crowd without justification.”Over the weekend, masked federal agents and unmarked SUVs were spotted on the city’s wealthier, predominantly white North side neighborhoods of Lakeview and Lincoln Park, where footage showed chemical agents deployed on a residential street. Federal agents have been seen and videotaped deploying tear gas in residential streets a number of times over the past few weeks.Bovino also led the immigration operation in Los Angeles in recent months, leading to thousands of arrests. Agents smashed car windows, blew open a door to a house and patrolled MacArthur Park on horseback. In Chicago, similar Border Patrol operations have led to viral footage of tense confrontations with protesters.At a previous hearing, Ellis questioned Kyle Harvick, deputy incident commander with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Shawn Byers, deputy field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, about their agencies’ use of force policies and the distribution of body cameras. Harvick said there are about 200 Border Patrol employees in the Chicago area, and those who are part of Operation Midway Blitz have cameras. But Byers said more money from Congress would be needed to expand camera use beyond two of that agency’s field offices.

    CHICAGO —

    A senior Border Patrol official who has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago is due in court Tuesday to take questions about the enforcement operation in the Chicago area, which has produced more than 1,800 arrests and complaints of excessive force.

    The hearing comes after a judge earlier this month ordered uniformed immigration agents to wear body cameras, the latest step in a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who say federal agents used excessive force, including using tear gas, during protests against immigration operations.

    Greg Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, one of nine sectors on the Mexican border, is himself accused of throwing tear gas canisters at protesters.

    U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis initially said agents must wear badges, and she banned them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. She later said she was concerned agents were not following her order after seeing footage of street confrontations involving tear gas during the administration’s Operation Midway Blitz, and she modified the order to also require body cameras.

    Ellis last week extended questioning of Bovino from two hours to five because she wants to hear about agents’ recent use of force in the city’s Mexican enclave of Little Village. During an enforcement operation last week in Little Village and the adjacent suburb of Cicero, at least eight people, including four U.S. citizens, were detained before protesters gathered at the scene, local officials said.

    The attorneys representing a coalition of news outlets and protesters claim Bovino himself violated the order in Little Village and filed a still image of video footage where he was allegedly “throwing tear gas into a crowd without justification.”

    Over the weekend, masked federal agents and unmarked SUVs were spotted on the city’s wealthier, predominantly white North side neighborhoods of Lakeview and Lincoln Park, where footage showed chemical agents deployed on a residential street. Federal agents have been seen and videotaped deploying tear gas in residential streets a number of times over the past few weeks.

    Bovino also led the immigration operation in Los Angeles in recent months, leading to thousands of arrests. Agents smashed car windows, blew open a door to a house and patrolled MacArthur Park on horseback. In Chicago, similar Border Patrol operations have led to viral footage of tense confrontations with protesters.

    At a previous hearing, Ellis questioned Kyle Harvick, deputy incident commander with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Shawn Byers, deputy field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, about their agencies’ use of force policies and the distribution of body cameras. Harvick said there are about 200 Border Patrol employees in the Chicago area, and those who are part of Operation Midway Blitz have cameras. But Byers said more money from Congress would be needed to expand camera use beyond two of that agency’s field offices.

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  • ‘Saw me as a person’: Video shows traffic stop turn into moment of hope for recovering mother

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    ‘Saw me as a person’: Video shows traffic stop turn into moment of hope for recovering mother

    A moment of humanity was captured on a Cabarrus County deputy’s body camera, and one act of kindness changed a woman’s life.

    Channel 9’s Hannah Goetz heard about this story months ago and has been pushing the courts to release the video. This week, we finally get to see the glimmer of hope from the lens of Cabarrus County Deputy Shawn Singleton’s body camera.

    The view is nothing out of the ordinary; it starts with a standard traffic stop. Singleton tells a driver that she was stopped for going 61 miles per hour in a 45-mph zone.

    Katelyn Ricchini, the driver, says she was heading home from church when she got pulled over that Sunday.

    “I meet him with absolute attitude, just absolute attitude,” Ricchini told Goetz.

    The body camera video shows their interaction.

    “I’m not allowed to have bad days?” she said.

    “No, everybody is entitled to a bad day. I can understand that completely, okay, but like, I’m trying to be nice and courteous to you, and like, I’m getting a lot of heat off,” Singleton can be heard telling her.

    “I’m sorry, I come from a background where I don’t do cops, I can’t stand cops, OK,” she said.

    ALSO READ >> Deputies in Cabarrus County pushing for safety at school bus stops

    Keeping his composure, Singleton ran her license and decided to let her off with a warning, despite the heated interaction.

    In that moment, something changed.

    “I could tell something was going on, but, and you know, just asked a question, and sometimes it elicits an answer that you expect, and sometimes it elicits an answer that you don’t expect. And this was definitely one that I didn’t expect,” Singleton told Goetz.

    The body camera video shows the rest of their interaction.

    “Are you good?” Singleton asks Ricchini.

    “No, no, my anxiety is killing me,” she said. “I come from a background‚ I’m clean and sober now, OK … I’ve always had bad incidents with cops.”

    “I understand probably where you came from is probably not the best. OK, you came down here for a reason, right? Okay, give it a chance. OK, don’t bring the anxieties,” Singleton says.

    He offers words of encouragement while having no idea what she was going through until this moment.

    “Is there anything I can do for you?” he says. “Do you need help with anything at all? Do you want a hug?”

    Katelyn says yes, and she explains through tears how she ended up in North Carolina.

    “I moved down here to get away from an abusive relationship, and I’m clean and I’m sober for four months,” Ricchini said through tears.

    After battling years of addiction and abuse, she moved to the state from Maryland, leaving her 5-year-old son behind so that she could get clean and get him back.

    “I’ve never hugged a cop before, I’ve always been put in handcuffs by them,” she said.

    Singleton had no idea his humanity and kindness that day changed Ricchini’s life and possibly saved it.

    “I told him, I’m ready to give up,” Ricchini said. “I was actually on my way to probably do something that wasn’t in my best interest.”

    The traffic stop happened back in March. Now, six months later, she’s celebrating 10 months clean.

    “Look, this is one of the guys that saved my life,” Ricchini said, introducing Singleton to her son.

    “It’s good to see you again,” he said.

    Ricchini told Goetz, “He saw me as a person, not an addict. And he saw my heart, I have potential. When so many people had counted me out, and so many people just lost hope and lost faith in me, he saw something.”

    “I try to show mercy and grace where I can, because that’s what I believe is the calling for myself and for law enforcement is, that’s what most of us get into. We want to be there to help,” Singleton said. “If you have that moment, that chance to show that sympathy, and that moment to do it, and not just walk badly by because it may mean the difference to somebody else.”

    Ricchini says she’ll be one year sober in November, and she invited Singleton to celebrate with her.

    She also has a full-time job, and her son now lives with her again.

    >>See the traffic stop unfold in the video at the top of this page.

    (WATCH: ‘Very exciting’: Cabarrus County Schools recognized for high graduation rates)

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  • California state Senator accuses Sacramento police of retaliation over “egregious” DUI arrest

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    SACRAMENTO — A Riverside County lawmaker accused of driving drunk after a car crash, but cleared by a blood test, took the first step Monday toward suing the Sacramento Police Department, saying officers had tarnished her reputation.

    After Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) was broadsided by an SUV near the Capitol in May, Sacramento police interviewed the 37-year-old lawmaker for hours at a Kaiser Permanente hospital before citing her on suspicion of driving under the influence. Prosecutors declined to file charges after the toxicology results of a blood test revealed no “measurable amount of alcohol or drugs.”

    In an 11-page filing Monday, Cervantes alleged that officers had retaliated against her over a bill that would sharply curtail how police can store data gathered by automated license plate readers, a proposal opposed by more than a dozen law enforcement agencies.

    The filing also alleges that the police treated Cervantes, who is gay and Latina, differently than the white woman driver who ran a stop sign and broadsided her car.

    “This is not only about what happened to me — it’s about accountability,” Cervantes said in a prepared statement. “No Californian should be falsely arrested, defamed, or retaliated against because of who they are or what they stand for.”

    Cervantes, a first-year state senator, has said since the crash that she did nothing wrong. She represents the 31st Senate District, which covers portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and chairs the Senate elections committee.

    Cervantes’ lawyer, James Quadra, said the Sacramento police had tried to “destroy the reputation of an exemplary member of the state Senate,” and that the department’s “egregious misconduct” includes false arrest, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation.

    A representative for the Sacramento Police Department declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

    After news broke of the crash, the Sacramento Police Department told reporters that they had “observed objective signs of intoxication” after speaking to Cervantes at the hospital. She said in her filing that the police had asked her to conduct a test gauging her eyes’ reaction to stimulus, a “less accurate and subjective test” than the blood test she requested.

    The toxicology screen had “completely exonerated” Cervantes, the filing said, but the police department had already “released false information to the press claiming that Senator Cervantes had driven while under the influence of drugs.”

    The filing alleges that one police officer turned off his body camera for about five minutes while answering a call on his cell phone. The filing also said that the department failed to produce body camera footage from a sergeant who also came to the hospital.

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    Laura J. Nelson, Nathan Solis

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  • Florida man’s arrest wiped from record after AI software leads police to wrong suspect

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    A wrongful arrest has now been wiped from a Lee County man’s record. Gulf Coast News first exposed the injustice months ago. The arrest happened after artificial intelligence facial recognition led police to the wrong suspect. “They say in life, everything happens for a reason. I can’t for the life of me figure out this one,” Robert Dillon, the man wrongfully arrested, told Gulf Coast News earlier this year. ‘How did this happen?’ One year ago, right outside his home in San Carlos Park, Dillon was arrested for a crime he never committed. His stunned reaction was captured on the body camera of the deputy who’d knocked on his door. “I’m thinking, ‘How in the hell did this happen. How did this happen?’” Dillon recalled. Dillon was accused of trying to lure a child at a fast-food restaurant more than 300 miles away in Jacksonville Beach. Investigators there submitted restaurant surveillance photos of the suspect to an AI-assisted facial recognition program, which identified Dillon as a 93% match. Beyond that, and a witness who picked his photo out of a lineup, there was no evidence tying him to it.As Dillon first explained months ago, he’s never been to Jacksonville Beach. “Out of the blue. They pick some guy that lives six and a half hours away and says, ‘This is you.’ It blew my mind,” Dillon said earlier this year. Case dropped, arrest wiped from recordOnce Dillon and his attorney provided evidence to show that he did not commit the crime, the state attorney’s office in Jacksonville dropped the case.When Gulf Coast News first reported on it, a spokesman for the state attorney’s office said they were submitting paperwork to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for the case to be stricken from Dillon’s record. Now, the spokesman confirmed Dillon is no longer in their system. His arrest mugshot — and his case file — are nowhere to be found online. Not the first time…”This is a technology that’s really dangerous, because it often gets it wrong. But police often treat it like it has to be right,” Nate Wessler said of facial recognition programs. Wessler is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. He focuses on government and police use of new technology, like the facial recognition in Dillon’s case. “Now that we know about it, we want to dig deeper,” Wessler said of the case. “This is a real miscarriage of justice. And it’s the latest in a series of wrongful arrests we know of around the country after police relied on incorrect results from face recognition technology.” In 2020, Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested in front of his home by Detroit police. His wife and two daughters watched it happen. “I can’t really put it into words. It was one of the most shocking things I’ve ever had happen to me,” Williams said in an interview with the ACLU after his arrest. A surveillance photo of a man stealing from a watch store was run through face recognition technology by investigators and identified Williams — who was nowhere near the store at time — as a possible match. Wessler was part of the legal team that sued the city of Detroit on Williams’ behalf. “The way to avoid this kind of travesty of justice is to either take this technology out of the hands of police, or lock it down really seriously with a set of policies and restrictions,” Wessler said. Detroit PD changes policy after wrongful arrestWilliams’ lawsuit led to a settlement, which included not only a payout for him but also sparked a policy change within the Detroit PD. In Williams’ case, much like Robert Dillon’s, police relied on two pieces of evidence: the face recognition match and someone picking his photo out of a lineup. Now, in Detroit, more evidence is required to make an arrest. “When you go straight from a face recognition result right to a photo lineup, there’s a high, high likelihood of tainting the reliability of that lineup,” Wessler explained. “You’re going to populate it with an innocent lookalike, plus five people who don’t look much like the suspect. And now you’ve just created this totally suggestible situation, where even a well-meaning witness is going to be tricked.”Months later, Dillon still hopes to get justiceRobert Dillon is relieved the arrest is off his record, but he wants to file a lawsuit to fight back against the injustice. After all, he said he can never get back the sleepless nights wondering if he’d serve time for a crime he never committed. “You cannot wrongfully imprison somebody. No matter who you are. Everybody’s got rights,” Dillon said. Gulf Coast News reached out to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department again, but they still refuse to answer any questions about their investigation.

    A wrongful arrest has now been wiped from a Lee County man’s record.

    Gulf Coast News first exposed the injustice months ago.

    The arrest happened after artificial intelligence facial recognition led police to the wrong suspect.

    “They say in life, everything happens for a reason. I can’t for the life of me figure out this one,” Robert Dillon, the man wrongfully arrested, told Gulf Coast News earlier this year.

    ‘How did this happen?’

    One year ago, right outside his home in San Carlos Park, Dillon was arrested for a crime he never committed. His stunned reaction was captured on the body camera of the deputy who’d knocked on his door.

    “I’m thinking, ‘How in the hell did this happen. How did this happen?’” Dillon recalled.

    Dillon was accused of trying to lure a child at a fast-food restaurant more than 300 miles away in Jacksonville Beach.

    Investigators there submitted restaurant surveillance photos of the suspect to an AI-assisted facial recognition program, which identified Dillon as a 93% match.

    Beyond that, and a witness who picked his photo out of a lineup, there was no evidence tying him to it.

    As Dillon first explained months ago, he’s never been to Jacksonville Beach.

    “Out of the blue. They pick some guy that lives six and a half hours away and says, ‘This is you.’ It blew my mind,” Dillon said earlier this year.

    Case dropped, arrest wiped from record

    Once Dillon and his attorney provided evidence to show that he did not commit the crime, the state attorney’s office in Jacksonville dropped the case.

    When Gulf Coast News first reported on it, a spokesman for the state attorney’s office said they were submitting paperwork to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for the case to be stricken from Dillon’s record.

    Now, the spokesman confirmed Dillon is no longer in their system. His arrest mugshot — and his case file — are nowhere to be found online.

    Not the first time…

    “This is a technology that’s really dangerous, because it often gets it wrong. But police often treat it like it has to be right,” Nate Wessler said of facial recognition programs.

    Wessler is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. He focuses on government and police use of new technology, like the facial recognition in Dillon’s case.

    “Now that we know about it, we want to dig deeper,” Wessler said of the case. “This is a real miscarriage of justice. And it’s the latest in a series of wrongful arrests we know of around the country after police relied on incorrect results from face recognition technology.”

    In 2020, Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested in front of his home by Detroit police. His wife and two daughters watched it happen.

    “I can’t really put it into words. It was one of the most shocking things I’ve ever had happen to me,” Williams said in an interview with the ACLU after his arrest.

    A surveillance photo of a man stealing from a watch store was run through face recognition technology by investigators and identified Williams — who was nowhere near the store at time — as a possible match.

    Wessler was part of the legal team that sued the city of Detroit on Williams’ behalf.

    “The way to avoid this kind of travesty of justice is to either take this technology out of the hands of police, or lock it down really seriously with a set of policies and restrictions,” Wessler said.

    Detroit PD changes policy after wrongful arrest

    Williams’ lawsuit led to a settlement, which included not only a payout for him but also sparked a policy change within the Detroit PD.

    In Williams’ case, much like Robert Dillon’s, police relied on two pieces of evidence: the face recognition match and someone picking his photo out of a lineup.

    Now, in Detroit, more evidence is required to make an arrest.

    “When you go straight from a face recognition result right to a photo lineup, there’s a high, high likelihood of tainting the reliability of that lineup,” Wessler explained. “You’re going to populate it with an innocent lookalike, plus five people who don’t look much like the suspect. And now you’ve just created this totally suggestible situation, where even a well-meaning witness is going to be tricked.”

    Months later, Dillon still hopes to get justice

    Robert Dillon is relieved the arrest is off his record, but he wants to file a lawsuit to fight back against the injustice.

    After all, he said he can never get back the sleepless nights wondering if he’d serve time for a crime he never committed.

    “You cannot wrongfully imprison somebody. No matter who you are. Everybody’s got rights,” Dillon said.

    Gulf Coast News reached out to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department again, but they still refuse to answer any questions about their investigation.

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  • ‘You’re gonna regret this’: RI Asst. AG Devon Flanagan berates police while under arrest

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    A Rhode Island special assistant attorney general was arrested in Newport after failing to leave after being trespassed, and becoming defensive with police officers asking her to leave.

    Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Hogan Flanagan was arrested Aug. 14 outside the Clarke Cooke House restaurant and charged with trespassing, according to a police report. The incident was recorded on an officer’s body camera.

    “Buddy, you’re gonna regret this. You’re gonna regret it,” Flanagan is heard saying in the body camera video. “I’m an A.G.”

    She was arrested along with another woman, who was identified as a friend from college.

    The incident is under review by the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office.

    “Ms. Flanagan has been employed with the Office for approximately 7 years and is currently assigned to Appellate Unit of the Criminal Division,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. “The Office immediately began a review of the incident, which we anticipate will conclude within the next few days.”

    The office said it was unable to comment further on the incident as it relates to “personnel issues.”

    Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, left, seen on Newport Police body camera footage outside the Clarke Cooke House on Aug. 14 prior to her arrest for trespassing.

    What police say happened that night

    At around 9:51 p.m. that night, officers responded to the restaurant at 24 Bannister’s Wharf for a report of an “unwanted party,” the Newport Police Department said.

    Police reports for both Flanagan and the involved friend state that alcohol was involved.

    Two women, later identified as Flanagan and the other party, can be seen on police body camera video standing outside the restaurant as an officer pulls up.

    As the officer gets out of his cruiser, Flanagan tells him she wants him to “turn his body cam off.”

    “Protocol is that you turn it off if a citizen requests to turn it off,” Flanagan, of Warwick, says.

    During the recorded interaction, Flanagan repeatedly asks officers to turn off their body cameras, insisting it was protocol. Newport Police Department’s protocol allows for the footage to be turned off if a witness or victim requests it and the scene is non-confrontational, among other situations.

    “They want you guys to leave. Let’s just leave. Let’s just make it easy,” an officer can be heard saying on the video.

    The officer then walks over to the restaurant’s host station.

    “You guys just want them out? Do you want them trespassed?” the officer asks.

    “Anything we can do. Trespass, yeah. Cuff ’em. Please,” a man at the host station says.

    Both women put into police cruisers, body cam video shows

    Flanagan was handcuffed and placed into a police cruiser first, the video shows.

    “I’m an A.G., I’m an A.G,” Flanagan repeats as the cruiser door shuts.

    Has Flanagan been placed on leave?

    Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha went on talk radio Tuesday morning and addressed the incident.

    “Look, she’s put me in a bad position. She’s embarrassed herself, humiliated herself, treated the Newport Police Department horribly,” Neronha said during the Aug. 19 interview on WPRO. “She is going to take some steps to try to address that in the next day or so.”

    While he did not say what the “steps” would entail, he did say an apology to the Newport Police Department was “clearly necessary, and she understands that.”

    Neronha said Flanagan would “take responsibility for her conduct and then we’ll go from there,” adding that he hadn’t yet decided what to do as far as discipline.

    “It was inexcusable behavior,” he said. “She knows better … I’ve got 110 lawyers. She embarrassed all of them, in a sense.”

    Neronha also said Flanagan “misstated” body camera protocol.

    “Look, it’s my office that drove that body cam program in the first place. So I’m really glad that they’re on every police officer in the state,” Neronha said.

    Kathy Gregg contributed to this report.

    This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Asst. AG Devon Flanagan berates cops while under arrest in Newport

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  • CLIPr Launches Its AI-Driven Video Intelligence Platform for Law Enforcement in AWS Marketplace

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    BENTONVILLE, Ark., April 3, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    CLIPr, a company that specializes in the automatic generation of police reports obtained from body-worn camera audio, announced today that its AI-driven video intelligence platform (VIP) is now available in AWS Marketplace, a digital catalog with thousands of software listings from independent software vendors that make it easy to find, test, buy, and deploy software that runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

    CLIPr VIP is compliant with the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) and compatible with all types of Unified Digital Evidence platforms and Body-Worn Camera manufacturer platforms. It automates report-generation for law enforcement officers based on footage recorded by their body camera while on duty, making the tedious time-consuming written-report process redundant. This not only enhances their productivity by up to 50%, it also significantly transforms public safety operations by getting more officers back on patrol quicker and increasing their street presence.

    AWS law enforcement customers will now have access to CLIPr VIP directly within AWS Marketplace. This gives them the ability to simplify the purchase and management of CLIPr’s VIP platform within their AWS Marketplace account.

    “Making CLIPr VIP available in AWS Marketplace significantly expands our delivery channel. We made our platform available as a Software-as-a-Service because it allows us to easily provide our solution to any police department that uses body cameras, anywhere in the world, using a proven and stable environment,” says CLIPr CEO and co-founder Humphrey Chen. “All law enforcement users receive full backup and support from our dedicated CLIPr team.”

    An officer compiling an incident report places their body camera in a docking station which automatically uploads their video. CLIPr VIP then generates a full transcription of the footage on a 2:1 ratio. However long a body camera recording is, it takes CLIPr half the amount of time to generate a report. The system emails the officer the first draft of their report. The officer is then able to review and search the report for relevant information. If required, the officer can also edit and finalize the narrative part of their incident report. Officers can also submit their reports to their superiors for review or forward it to their district attorney for prosecutorial purposes.

    For more information on CLIPr and its AI-driven video intelligence platform, please visit https://www.clipr.ai/

    —ENDS—

    About CLIPr

    CLIPr is a premier video analysis and management platform that leverages AI and machine learning to transform the way users interact with video content. By extracting and organizing key moments from both short- and long-form videos, CLIPr saves users countless hours and enhances productivity. CLIPr is fully compliant with the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS). It is also compatible with all types of Unified Digital Evidence platforms and Body Worn Camera manufacturer platforms.

    Contact Information

    Evan Bloom
    CEO
    evan@fortresscomms.com
    3157444912

    Source: CLIPr

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  • CLIPr’s New Body Camera Video Intelligence Solution Improves Law Enforcement Productivity by up to 50%

    CLIPr’s New Body Camera Video Intelligence Solution Improves Law Enforcement Productivity by up to 50%

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    BENTONVILLE, Ark., October 16, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    CLIPr has launched CLIPr Video Intelligence (CVI) to the law enforcement sector. CVI is an AI-driven video intelligence platform that enhances officer productivity by up to 50% by automating report-generation based on body-camera footage recorded while on duty, making the tedious time-consuming written-report process redundant. CLIPr is also announcing a strategic reseller partnership with i-PRO, a renowned provider of high-quality video-security and evidence-capture solutions, that will see CLIPr integrated with i-PRO’s body-worn-camera and in-car-video solutions and be available to all users. 

    The CVI platform works on a 2:1 ratio. However long a body-camera recording is, it takes CLIPr half the amount of time to generate a report. Officers no longer need to sit and watch their recorded interaction with members of the public and then write their report; the entire process is automated. Additional incremental services are also available from CLIPr like enabling users to identify conversation nodes in camera footage and create topics related to the footage recorded. CLIPr also has video evidence search capabilities by topic, analysis, organization, extraction, and query. CLIPr seamlessly integrates with all types of Unified Digital Evidence platforms.

    “Currently, officers on patrol or special assignment spend, on average, 50% of their duty time performing administrative tasks; much of it is related to body-camera footage,” says CLIPr CEO and co-founder Humphrey Chen. “Once implemented, CLIPr will enhance shift productivity by 25%, enabling officers to spend about 75% of their time protecting and serving and up to 50% less time on administrative functions. Police officers and citizens benefit equally.”

    “We are excited to partner with CLIPr. The integration between CLIPr and i-PRO Unified Digital Evidence (UDE) can provide a significant enhancement to public safety and enterprise video management when coupled with access to CLIPr’s BodyCam Notes and Police Report recap capabilities,” says David O’Connor, Director of Public Safety Product Management at i-PRO.

    CLIPr is currently being pilot tested at a wide variety of police departments across the country. “The platform’s advanced video management capabilities are attracting significant interest, and the feedback that we have had is exceptionally positive,” adds Chen.

    To compile a report, an officer places their body camera in a docking station, it then automatically uploads their video, and CLIPr generates a full transcription of the footage. The system emails the first draft of the police report to the officer who can then review and search it for relevant information, and then edit and finalize the narrative part of their incident report. Officers can then submit reports to their superiors for review or forward it to the district attorney for prosecutorial purposes. 

    CLIPr will be in booth #2738 together with i-PRO at this year’s International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference and exposition in Boston, Massachusetts, between Oct. 19-22, 2024.

    About CLIPr

    CLIPr is a premier video analysis and management platform that leverages AI and machine learning to transform the way users interact with video content. By extracting and organizing key moments from both short- and long-form videos, CLIPr saves users countless hours and enhances productivity. 

    About i-PRO

    i-PRO is a global leader in video surveillance solutions, offering industry-leading technology for capturing, recording, and analyzing high-quality video. With a comprehensive lineup of advanced video surveillance cameras, i-PRO integrates cutting-edge AI technology to deliver superior video analysis and management capabilities.

    Source: CLIPr

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  • Prosecutors drop charges in 'ghost gun' case linked to LAPD gang unit scandal

    Prosecutors drop charges in 'ghost gun' case linked to LAPD gang unit scandal

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    Los Angeles County prosecutors have dismissed a gun possession charge against a man who was stopped by police officers from a scandal-plagued gang unit within the LAPD’s Mission Division, one of the first instances of a case being compromised by the department’s latest corruption scandal.

    The decision came after a preliminary hearing Thursday for Raphael DeLeon on a felony charge of having a concealed unregistered firearm in a vehicle, according to his attorney, Ninaz Saffari.

    After the defense argued the gun was recovered during an illegal stop, Saffari said Monday, prosecutors told the court they couldn’t proceed because three of the officers involved in the stop would not be available to testify because of a pending investigation.

    Saffari said DeLeon was pulled over because of his race, and she believes prosecutors dropped the case because the officers would have been called to testify about why they made the stop.

    “Latino guy driving around, and basically police officers were going on a fishing expedition and they say let’s pull this guy over,” she said. “I think that it’s a pattern of conduct and I think that they got caught this time.”

    In a motion filed before the hearing, Saffari argued the gun charge should be thrown out because the officers had no probable cause to search DeLeon’s car after pulling him over for reportedly failing to signal while making an improper lane change.

    The motion criticized the officers’ apparent delay in activating their body-worn cameras — a convenient lapse that Saffari said ensured there was no video of her client’s supposed traffic violations. There was also no footage of the “furtive movement” that officers said DeLeon made while reaching for a gun. DeLeon has denied both allegations.

    “There is only one logical reason all three Officers did not activate their (body cameras) earlier, including when Mr. DeLeon was first interrogated — all three knew this was a bogus stop that would lead to an unconstitutional search,” Saffari wrote.

    Prosecutors have identified as many as 350 criminal cases that are potentially compromised because they relied on the testimony of or evidence gathered by two Mission gang officers, according to sources who spoke previously with The Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

    The LAPD’s internal investigation has dragged on for nearly a year, the sources said, and the probe has allegedly uncovered a range of misconduct, including inappropriate stops, misuse of body-worn cameras, and possibly a robbery.

    The district attorney has said the LAPD has provided the results of its investigation into two of the officers, and charges are under consideration.

    The FBI is also investigating the unit for potential constitutional violations.

    The gang unit’s alleged misconduct came to light after a traffic stop last December. A motorist filed a complaint, claiming the officers were rude and didn’t have a legal basis for searching their vehicle. An internal affairs detective assigned to the case noticed discrepancies in the involved officers’ account of the stop. The department’s inquiry widened to include stops carried by others in the unit, uncovering numerous instances in which officers were late to activate their body cameras or otherwise failed to document the encounter, in violation of department policy, officials have said.

    At DeLeon’s hearing, the prosecutor announced that the charges would be dropped because three of the involved officers were not available to testify, Saffari said.

    Tiffiny Blacknell, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said the case was “unable to proceed because the necessary witnesses were unavailable.” Blacknell said those witnesses are Mission gang officers.

    The dismissal is thought to be one of the first cases linked to the Mission Division to have charges dropped. Legal experts have said prosecutors will have to weigh whether they have enough evidence to proceed with pending cases, while also potentially revisiting prior convictions or guilty pleas that hinged on the testimony of officers tainted by the scandal.

    Up to 15 officers from the Mission Division are under suspicion, according to sources who requested anonymity to discuss confidential personnel matters. The department has declined to identify the officers.

    The officers mentioned in Saffari’s motion were Alan Carrillo, Anthony Cardoza and Marvin Perez.

    In an email to The Times, Perez said the “situation is still under investigation and should be treated with delicacy.” He referred further questions to his commanding officer at the Mission Division and to his attorney. Cardoza declined to comment and Carrillo did not respond to an email.

    An LAPD spokesperson said the three officers are still working at Mission Division but are no longer with the gang unit. Internal affairs investigators have continued to notify the D.A’.s office “of any discrepancies between the arrest report and the video evidence” of former Mission gang officers, the LAPD said.

    The case against DeLeon was dismissed on procedural grounds, the LAPD said, and the recovered “ghost gun” “was ordered to be destroyed by the judge and remains off the streets of Los Angeles.”

    LAPD officials said previously that two Mission officers suspected of misconduct have been sent to face a disciplinary panel called a board of rights, indicating the department is seeking to terminate them for misconduct. The three officers named in connection with the DeLeon case are not believed to be among those facing the disciplinary panel.

    The remaining officers from the unit have been assigned home or placed on restrictive duties that take them off the streets, according to the department.

    Though prosecutors in the past have notified attorneys when their cases involve officers suspected of misconduct, Saffari said she learned of the allegations against Mission officers only after reading news accounts of the case.

    The stop of DeLeon occurred May 28 in the area of Woodman Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard. Saffari argued it was problematic from the start. Carrillo wrote in his report that he and his partners pulled Deleon over after he swerved into another lane while driving in an area known as a hotbed of gang activity and violence.

    The officers discovered DeLeon’s license was invalid and that he had a prior misdemeanor conviction for firearm possession, Saffari said. Instead of arresting DeLeon for the misdeameanor of driving without a valid license and obtaining a warrant to search the car, the attorney said, the officers ordered Deleon and a female passenger to stand on the sidewalk while they performed a “protective sweep” of the vehicle.

    “The invalid license did not give the police carte blanche to search his vehicle,” Saffari said.

    The officers also failed to activate their cameras until after running DeLeon’s license, she said, despite a department policy that says officers should record the entirety of all public encounters.

    Officers did find a Polymer80-brand “ghost gun” under the front driver’s seat, the motion said. But their explanation for looking there — that DeLeon reached in that area after being stopped and was “shaking and repeatedly looking downward in a furtive manner” — was not captured on any of the three officers’ body cameras.

    The search was illegal, Saffari argued, probably based on a hunch that DeLeon might be armed because of his past criminal record and the area where he was stopped. “The police failed to articulate any legitimate, truthful facts whatsoever that would lead a reasonable person to believe there was an unregistered firearm or other illegal contraband in the vehicle,” her motion read.

    The gun and any other items seized from DeLeon could not be used in court because they were recovered during an illegal stop, Saffari said, calling the evidence “the fruit of a poisonous tree.”

    Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

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