Letters to the Editor - The Durango Herald

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Durango values misrepresented in NYT article

Editor’s note: The following letter was originally submitted to The New York Times in response to, “A Colorado Town Is Rocked by an ICE Arrest” ( New York Times , Nov. 3)). The Tim...

DATE: Nov 26, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Time to regulate short-term rentals

As a resident of La Plata County, I’m frustrated by the lack of restrictions on short-term rentals in our community. The rise of platforms like Airbnb and VRBO has changed hospitality, but i...

DATE: Nov 23, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Durango deserves an update on road projects

I would like the Herald to give us an update on what is happening with the 32nd Street/County Road 250 road replacement and the North College Drive/Florida Road road replacement. It’s insane...

DATE: Nov 23, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Our values matter: Let’s boycott together

I am dismayed that we are seeing families without enough food to eat while also losing health care. I am disheartened that our veterans are losing food benefits and access to health insuranc...

DATE: Nov 23, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Remembering our common humanity

With all of the major division, separation and side-taking that is currently happening in our country, I would like to encourage each of us to please look for and search out our commonness a...

DATE: Nov 23, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Congress must stand up and do its job

As I was placing the U.S. flag out to honor Veterans Day, my mind drifted back to what our government was like before President Trump and the MAGA movement. Before Trump, the Department of J...

DATE: Nov 23, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

This is no time to be subtle or silent

I’m not known for being subtle. Now is not the time to be subtle. I own my viral tirade. For the record, my profanity-laced tirade (Nazis, fascists) was aimed at a group of MAGA nonstudent a...

DATE: Nov 23, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

The fine line between violence and free speech

I am a proud FLC alumna. I am forever grateful for the liberal arts education that enabled me to be open-minded and respectfully listen to opinions I vehemently disagree with. College was a ...

DATE: Nov 23, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Put-up Time

Oh yes, you can, too, speak to what’s happening in the country, whether in pod-cast, prose, or in poetry. As for me, I’m old enough, you see, to remember when Bull Connor turned the fireho...

DATE: Nov 21, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Beethoven’s Fifth echoes after Durango protest

Fate is knocking at the door. Beethoven composed this motif with his Fifth Symphony. Both defeat and victory are there with fate. Beethoven represented his hearing loss with this classical p...

DATE: Nov 21, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Durango residents deserve utility transparency

In an August article (Herald, Aug. 1), the reporter noted proposals for utility price increases and said, “An Engage Durango forum about the city’s stormwater management program and the prop...

DATE: Nov 21, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Protest as ceremony: A call for peaceful action

I am writing to share my reflections on the protest at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on Oct. 28. I believe this event demonstrated both an example of our community’s stron...

DATE: Nov 19, 2025 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Photos: Battle of the Animas

Photos: Animas River Days

Photos: Iron Horse Bicycle Classic mountain bike racesPlenty of spectators packed Steamworks Brewing Company on Sunday

Plenty of spectators packed Steamworks Brewing Company on Sunday

Photos: Iron Horse Bicycle Classic pro road racesCyclists had beautiful day to ride into Silverton on Saturday

Cyclists had beautiful day to ride into Silverton on Saturday

Photos: Durango High School graduation ceremony

Photos: Durango Big Picture High School graduates receive diplomas

Durango police chief says technology name of game in modern policingAI bodycams, first responder drones and more in store for DPD

Artificial intelligence, drone first responders and body cameras that can translate 50 languages aren’t far-flung concepts of some opaque Hollywood future anymore. Even in Durango, they are becoming staples of modern policing.Durango Police Department is embracing technological advancements in what Police Chief Brice Current described to city councilors earlier this year as a “cautious” yet “progressive” approach.Since at least April, Current has stressed how DPD’s top priority with new technology is reinforcing public safety. Since at least April, Current has attended various community meetings about new technology the police department is adopting, where he’s stressed how DPD’s top priority with new technology is to reinforce public safety. He has also addressed residents’ concerns about how powerful some new technologies, including Flock Safety and other automated license plate reader cameras, have become – an ongoing conversation between DPD, the city and advocates for tighter automated license plate reader regulations in Durango.At a Kiwanis Club of Durango meeting last month, for example, Current addressed Flock cameras and drones, and also the importance of trust and accountability for law enforcement.“It is healthy for the public – if we’re going to be one Durango and we’re going to work together – to question government. I question government,” he said.

Current said accountability for officers and third-party technology services is necessary, and that requires education and transparency.Evoking laughter, Current showed a video clip of a drone launching a net at a person.“It requires no training, no policy, and there’s no way we’re ever going to use this,” he said. “There’s lots of other technology out there that is really cool, but just doesn’t fit in Durango right now.”Grappler systems that cast nets to trap a car’s tires are no longer gadgets used only by Batman in films and comic books. Current said Castle Rock uses just such a system. But they aren’t a good fit for Durango.“Those are great tools, don’t get me wrong, but there’s some – like facial recognition, some other things – that just aren’t going to fit in this community and shouldn’t fit here for a long time,” he said.New technologies at DPDDraft One AI Reporting by Axon is an audio transcription service that can identify multiple people in a body camera recording and produce a police report based on what is captured.Current said he held off on trying a demo of Draft One for a long time, because although DPD has used transcription services for years, he didn’t feel comfortable bringing an AI-generated police report to court.But AI transcription technology has come a long way, he said.“This system can take five different people or more at a time and assign who they are and transcribe what they’re saying in the report,” he said.Another benefit, he said, is it trains officers to speak into their body cameras more regularly to record what they are thinking and observing. That helps the veracity of officers’ testimony in court.“When you’re pulling a vehicle over, you used to say in court, ‘(The suspect is) reaching under the seat. I saw him doing some stuff that made me feel nervous.’ And the jury’s like, ‘Hmm, you’re saying that now because you found 2 pounds of dope in his car. But is that really what you’re thinking?’” Current said.Now, officers speak directly into their body cameras to capture not just what the body camera sees but what they are thinking and how they are processing a situation as it unfolds.“‘I’m feeling pretty nervous right now. He keeps reaching under his car (seat).’ They’re talking to their camera. ‘He’s waited two blocks to turn to pull over. That’s odd,’ ... It’s teaching the officer to talk more about what they’re feeling in the reports,” he said.DPD is using Draft One transcripts in misdemeanor cases, although it hasn’t begun using them in felony cases, Current said. But he is confident it will start using them in felony cases soon.The police department’s body cameras are now able to livestream video to the police station and 911 dispatchers at the Durango Emergency Communications Center, allowing first responder agencies to monitor situations in real time.Current said DPD is looking into getting language translation capabilities in 50 different languages for body cameras, but that feature comes with a higher price tag and the police department is waiting on grant funding to make a move.DPD is also implementing AI software into its internal systems to quickly search statutes to determine what charges might best match a situation, to flag internal affairs reviews if officer misconduct is detected in video footage, and more.

By now, residents may have noticed one or both of the drone first responders DPD deployed this year to survey incidents faster than officers can reasonably be expected to arrive on scene.Police used a drone last month to locate a missing boy near the Animas River. The drone deployed from Durango Fire Protection District Station No. 1 downtown and arrived in the general area the boy was last seen – behind the Durango Mall – in just a few minutes.Police also deployed a drone last week to the scene of a fatal shooting near Durango Skate Park.Within two minutes of the shooting, police launched a drone and got an aerial view of the scene “within seconds” of it being launched, according to a DPD news release.A second drone was launched a minute later.“The Durango Police Department’s Drone as First Responder system arrived above the scene before officers,” the release said. “The drone operator was able to see that there was no further gunfire taking place as officers approached the area. This technology provided officers with real-time information and helped them arrive with a stronger understanding of what was happening on scene.”The two drones operate on about a 2-mile radius with flight times of about 40 minutes.

‘We’ve learned to vet them’DPD and the city began to face harsher scrutiny from residents last year after members of DeFlock Durango performed records requests for Flock audits that revealed vehicle and license plate data was appearing in searches by law enforcement agencies across the country that have 287(g) cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Flock Safety has faced pushback from communities around the country for what some opponents of ALPRs call a mass surveillance system of Orwellian proportions. Critics have bashed Flock for providing data to federal law enforcement, for questionable privacy policies when it comes to captured data and for a lack of oversight on how police departments use data.

Current has repeatedly insisted Flock cameras do not constitute “mass surveillance,” although he has acknowledged privacy and abuse of power concerns.He said things are changing for the better with Flock after it faced backlash for working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.He said DPD has always dealt with third-party technology services, and over time it’s leaned to vet companies it partners with.When legislation required police to start wearing bodycams, police had issues with camera companies not storing data as required by law.“Do we trust these groups? Well, we've learned to vet them,” he said.cburney@durangoherald.com

AI bodycams, first responder drones and more in store for DPD