NYPD body cams recalled after one of them "explodes"

Rob Beschizza 8:22 am Mon Oct 22, 2018

Police body-cams often seem designed to fail at just the right moment, but this plucky little fellow got a bit ahead of itself.

Police in New York have been told to stop using some of their body-worn cameras after one of them exploded.

On Saturday, a night officer noticed smoke coming out of their camera and took it off. It then exploded, the NYPD said in a statement.

It ordered officers to stop using the Vievu LE-5 camera out of "an abundance of caution".

Here's the product page for the Vievu LE-5.

The supply contract, including service and evidence management software and servers, puts the per-unit cost at $2133. Two thousand, one hundred and thirty three American dollars. It looks like Vievu does a good job keeping them out of retail but you can pick up its models for about $400 on eBay.

Kentucky driver busted for hand-drawn license plate

Police in Millersburg, Kentucky, pulled over a driver last week after noticing that their license plate looked a bit "off model," as cartoonists say. The individual was also lacking auto… READ THE REST
What you need to know about police drone surveillance at protests against police brutality

Technology writer Faine Greenwood has a great piece in Slate about the expansion of police drone surveillance fleets. While there are still many, many reasons to worry about abuses of drone technology… READ THE REST
Police militarization is objectively bad for police and for society, according to science

This 2018 study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America takes a comprehensive look at the impacts of militarized police, and shows… READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST