The Download: Google’s Gemini plans, and virtual power plants
—Jackie Burns Koven, head of threat intelligence at crypto tracing Chainalysis, explains why criminal activity online has returned to the bad old days of the height of the covid pandemic to Wired.
The big story
Welcome to Chula Vista, where police drones respond to 911 calls
In the skies above Chula Vista, California, where the police department runs a drone program 10 hours a day, seven days a week, it’s not uncommon to see an unmanned aerial vehicle darting across the sky.
Chula Vista is one of a dozen departments in the US that operate what are called drone-as-first-responder programs, where drones are dispatched by pilots, who are listening to live 911 calls, and often arrive first at the scenes of accidents, emergencies, and crimes, cameras in tow.
But many argue that police forces’ adoption of drones is happening too quickly. The use of drones as surveillance tools and first responders is a fundamental shift in policing, one without a well-informed public debate around privacy regulations, tactics, and limits. There’s also little evidence that drone policing reduces crime.
