Opinion Columns - The Durango Herald

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Bret Stephens: ‘You won’t live to see your next birthday’

New Year’s Eve, 1943. Lajos Stillmann is celebrating his 22nd birthday with friends in a Budapest, Hungary, apartment. Someone suggests paying a visit to a nearby palm reader. The palm reade...

DATE: May 25, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Andrew Romanoff: Prescription for the pandemic is Medicare for All

If you go outside at 8 p.m. on any given night, you can hear people howling. I often join in, too. We’re voicing our support for health care providers and other heroes – the women...

DATE: May 23, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Michael Fields: Is this the time for another Colorado comeback?

As Colorado begins to open back up, we know we have a big economic hole to dig out of. Unemployment claims are over 420,000, businesses have shuttered and a lot of Coloradans have...

DATE: May 22, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Bruce Babbitt: Retire some ag lands to save the Colorado River

It is no exaggeration to say that a mega-drought not seen in 500 years has descended on the seven Colorado River Basin states: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Califo...

DATE: May 22, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Jerry Brady: They want us to open everything now? Really?

Open a business now and or stay the course? Sacrifice lives or sacrifice jobs? The issue is almost as fraught as the simple choice facing all of us: Do we wear a mask to protect others or go...

DATE: May 22, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

David Brooks: We need a program of national service right now

There is now a vast army of young people ready and yearning to serve their country. There are college graduates emerging into a workplace that has few jobs for them. There are more high scho...

DATE: May 17, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Jack Turner: We deserve a choice on county commission ballots

What if there was only one candidate in each of the two La Plata County commissioner races next November? Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold have made this scenar...

DATE: May 16, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Dean Brookie: Durango has opportunity to shape its own recovery

During the past seven years, I have been honored to serve on Durango City Council, and I am humbled to start my second term as mayor. I would like to thank Melissa Youssef for her...

DATE: May 15, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Paul Griffin: Fossil fuels are a hidden weapon in COVID-19 fight

There has always been an inherent danger in the notion of abandoning fossil fuels, especially proposals by governments and institutions to clear their environmental conscience by divesting f...

DATE: May 11, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Horace Cooper: Price hikes not the way to reform Postal Service

It is an open secret in Washington that the United States Postal Service needs reform. But recent calls for government-mandated price hikes should not be one of them. Like any business facin...

DATE: May 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Duane Highley: Tri-State has delivered on its promises to LPEA

Last May, I had the privilege to attend La Plata Electric Association’s annual meeting, where I was humbled by the opportunity to share my vision for Tri-State’s transformation with LPEA’s m...

DATE: May 9, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Clyde Church: County businesses will be altered after pandemic

The past month of social distancing in an effort to minimize the spread of COVID-19 has been one of the most challenging periods our community has ever faced. All of us have been affected in...

DATE: May 8, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

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