Columnists - The Durango Herald

Gail Collins: Do not, under any circumstances, Press 1

Lately, I’ve been having conversations with robocallers. I take this as a sign that the pandemic has gone on way too long. “My name is Eve with Discovery Health Care,” one call be...

DATE: Feb 14, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Listen to the public health department

Thank you to San Juan Basin Public Health for its work keeping our community safe over the past 11 months. To be honest, I never knew much about our local public health department...

DATE: Feb 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

Editorial cartoons

DATE: Feb 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Michelle Goldberg: QAnon believers are obsessed with Hillary Clinton

A clear indication that Marjorie Taylor Greene was more than a dabbler in QAnon was her 2018 endorsement of “Frazzledrip,” one of the most grotesque tendrils of the movement’s mythology. You...

DATE: Feb 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Keeping the ancients warm: Ancestral Puebloans created turkey feather blankets

I love seeing turkeys in ponderosa woods, moving slowly uphill like priests absorbed in morning prayers. At twilight, they are dark shapes seeking acorns and insects, always leav...

DATE: Feb 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Gemini and its twins offer much to explore

Greetings, stargazers. Our season of conjunctions and comets ended when Venus and Jupiter passed each other on the morning of Feb. 11. Now, I plan to revisit a few constellations...

DATE: Feb 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

The old normal was only working for some in the population

As the new vaccines begin to surge into the arms of our friends, families and neighbors, many of us are starting to envision what life after COVID-19 may look like. The pandemic has changed ...

DATE: Feb 12, 2021 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

Student has trouble getting homework help

Dear Abby: My mom is mad at me. I have been a little bad, but I always do the dishes, sweep, clear the table and take out the trash. Every day when school is finished, I wait for Mom to ...

DATE: Feb 12, 2021 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Laurie Meininger: League of Women Voters honors Black women suffragists

As we celebrate Black History Month, the League of Women Votes would like to bring special attention to the contributions of women of color in the suffragist movement and to the 100 years of...

DATE: Feb 12, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Programs help children explore outdoors up close

With subzero temperatures and snow one week, then warm sun followed by rain and thunderstorms and T-shirt weather the next, it seems like the weather is confused about what season it is. ...

DATE: Feb 12, 2021 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Woman frets about ending relationship

Dear Abby: My now-ex and I had a complicated, four-year on-again, off-again relationship. I finally ended it five months ago, but I’m still not sure whether I made the right choice. ...

DATE: Feb 11, 2021 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

The Warren G. Hardings came together from jam sessions

Not many musicians can say they got into a certain style of music because their mom snuck them into a concert. But its how mandolin player Gabriel Marowitz was turned onto bluegrass, after h...

DATE: Feb 11, 2021 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

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