Academy breaks down ethics of Mount Pleasant Police cheating accusations Live5WCSC, February 5, 2026

Caroline Spikes , Live5WCSC; Academy breaks down ethics of Mount Pleasant Police cheating accusations

"Ten Mount Pleasant Police Department officers accused of cheating on a self-administered online test have prompted the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy to review protocols for online testing.

The officers are accused of cheating on an online recertification for a breathalyzer device. Academy Director Jackie Swindler said this is not the first time the academy has seen an officer attempt to cheat online."

Arrests in Louvre Heist Show Power of DNA Databases in Solving Crimes; The New York Times, November 3, 2025

 Catherine Porter , The New York Times; Arrests in Louvre Heist Show Power of DNA Databases in Solving Crimes

"It took less than a week for the police to track down two of the suspects who they say broke into the Louvre and made off with eight of France’s historic crown jewels. A third person, a suspected accomplice, was tracked down on Wednesday.

In all three cases, DNA was an essential part of the search.

The chief prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, said the DNA of the two men who broke into the museum and snatched $100 million worth of jewelry was found on the window and on one of the two high-powered motor scooters the thieves used to get away."

Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest; The Guardian, July 25, 2025

Clare Considine, The Guardian; Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest

[Kip Currier: It's profoundly disquieting to read how the officers conducted themselves in this incident. The lack of professional conduct we can see and hear with our own eyes and ears is appalling and stomach-churning.

One can't help but wonder about all the other stops and arrests like this that occur every day and which we know nothing about. Without well-maintained democratic systems of checks and balances, rigorous training and oversight, transparency, accountability, ethical guardrails,and personal integrity and honor, we know from this example and many others that unbridled lawlessness like this is occurring and will likely continue to be present unless remedial measures are implemented.

The larger and more concerning issue is that this type of conduct is ostensibly modeled, normalized, and rewarded in the Trump 2.0 organizational culture.

Sadly, in the absence of administration officials speaking out against these kinds of law enforcement excesses, it's reasonable to conclude that these types of incidents are acceptable to, if not suborned, by the leaders in charge. The dehumanization, fear, and cruelty are the point, in order to advance policy aims.]

[Excerpt]

"On the morning of 2 May, teenager Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio was driving to his landscaping job in North Palm Beach with his mother and two male friends when they were pulled over by the Florida highway patrol.

In one swift moment, a traffic stop turned into a violent arrest.

A highway patrol officer asked everyone in the van to identify themselves, then called for backup. Officers with US border patrol arrived on the scene.

Video footage of the incident captured by Laynez-Ambrosio, an 18-year-old US citizen, appears to show a group of officers in tactical gear working together to violently detain the three men*, two of whom are undocumented. They appear to use a stun gun on one man, put another in a chokehold and can be heard telling Laynez-Ambrosio: “You’ve got no rights here. You’re a migo, brother.” Afterward, agents can be heard bragging and making light of the arrests, calling the stun gun use “funny” and quipping: “You can smell that … $30,000 bonus.”"

Could AI Help Bust Medicaid Scammers? Minnesota May Find Out; Government Technology, January 29, 2025

 Nikki Davidson, Government Technology; Could AI Help Bust Medicaid Scammers? Minnesota May Find Out

"HOW CAN AI HELP?

The governor’s plan is to detect and flag anomalies for Medicaid providers, meaning an AI system would likely be trained to identify unusual or suspicious patterns in billing and payment data.

Suspicious patterns could include:

• Billing for an excessive number of services: Flagging providers who bill for significantly more services than their peers
• Billing for unnecessary or inappropriate services: Flagging claims for services that are not medically necessary or do not align with the patient's diagnosis
• Billing for services not rendered: Flagging claims for services that were never actually provided
• Unusual billing patterns or trends: Flagging providers whose billing practices deviate significantly from established norms or show sudden, unexplained changes

In an interview with Government Technology, Commissioner of Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) Tarek Tomes explained that this use case aligns with the state’s AI strategy of leaning into less controversial use cases that don’t reinvent any wheel, as many private-sector financial institutions already use similar technology.

“In our private lives, if we have suspicious credit card transactions, we generally get a text message asking, ‘Is this really you?’" said Tomes. “So using AI and machine learning to really look at patterns — both successful and unsuccessful patterns of transactions, and to be able to flag transactions for further review or further investigation is going to be a really important capability to add to those areas in government that have high transactions where financial benefits are paid out.”

At this point, it’s a waiting game until April or May to see if the AI pilot will be approved in the state’s budget. In the meantime, Tomes said MNIT is researching vendors and the capabilities they provide, especially in terms of low-fidelity prototypes.

If the pilot funding gets a green light from lawmakers, human beings will still play an essential role in the fraud detection process, investigating the flagged transactions for actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud."

WATCH: How Drones Are Saving Lives in Rural America; Government Technology, August 19, 2024

 Nikki Davidson , Government Technology; WATCH: How Drones Are Saving Lives in Rural America

"Until recently, deputies in rural Manitowoc County, Wis., faced a challenge: responding to calls with limited visibility and resources. Traditional policing methods often left them at a disadvantage in vast, wooded areas. 

In June 2022, the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office embarked on a mission to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into their law enforcement operations to give them an eye in the sky. Two lieutenants, Travis Aleff and Kyle Stotzheim, were tasked with spearheading the initiative, working “non-stop” for half a year to establish a fully operational drone team with 13 FAA-certified pilots.

Initially there were a lot of questions about the program’s cost-effectiveness and whether the investment in drones would yield tangible benefits...

To understand the real-world impact of drones in law enforcement, we requested examples from the sheriff’s office, complete with video footage. They provided three compelling cases, each demonstrating a different facet of how UAVs can revolutionize police work and enhance public safety.

DRONES AS A LIFELINE: ENHANCING MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS RESPONSE

One example highlights the potential of drones to aid in mental health crisis response. The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office received a call concerning a suicidal, armed individual who intended to harm themselves in a densely wooded county park. Watch the video below to see how the UAV was used as a tool to defuse and safely resolve the situation."

Google's Mysterious AI Ethics Board Should Be Transparent Like Axon's; Forbes, April 27, 2018

Sam Shead, Forbes; Google's Mysterious AI Ethics Board Should Be Transparent Like Axon's

"This week, Axon, a US company that develops body cameras for police officers and weapons for the law enforcement market, demonstrated the kind of transparency that Google should aspire towards when it announced an AI ethics board to "help guide the development of Axon's AI-powered devices and services".

Axon said the board's mission is to advise and guide Axon's leaders on the impact of AI technology on communities. The board will meet twice a year and it held its first meeting on Thursday in Scottsdale, Arizona.

"We believe the advancement of AI technology will empower police officers to connect with their communities versus being stuck in front of a computer screen doing data entry," said Axon CEO and founder, Rick Smith, in a statement. "We also believe AI research and technology for use in law enforcement must be done ethically and with the public in mind. This is why we've created the AI ethics board — to ensure any AI technology in public safety is developed responsibly.""