Law enforcement agencies in Colorado intend to start using drones to respond to 911 calls. The Denver Police Department (DPD) is among the agencies that intend to utilize the dystopian technology. “This really is the future of law enforcement at some point, whether we like it or not,” Sgt. Jeremiah Gates said, according to The Emergency Drone Responder. Gates is the head of the drone unit at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. Colorado police plan to use drones as first responders, calling the technology 'future of law enforcement' https://t.co/KHIvJWxDub — Fox News (@FoxNews) May 28, 2024 The Emergency Drone Responder reports: Currently, at least 20 agencies in Colorado’s Front Range utilize drone technology for specific tasks, such as searching for missing persons, tracking fleeing suspects, mapping crime scenes, and providing aerial surveillance during SWAT operations. Now, the sheriff’s office is contemplating using drones to handle some 911 calls, providing valuable information from the scene before deploying officers. Moreover, dispatching drones to less urgent calls could allow officers to focus on more critical situations. “I could fly the drone over (a reported suspicious vehicle) and say, ‘Hey, that vehicle is not out of place,’ and I never had to send an officer over to bother them and I can clear it with that,” Gates explained to The Denver Post. “It’s saving resources.” Despite the potential benefits, Laura Moraff, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, expressed concerns about the implications of widespread drone usage by government agencies on individual freedoms. “We’re worried about what it would mean if drones were really just all over the skies in Colorado,” Moraff said to The Denver Post. “We are worried about what that would mean for First Amendment activities, for speech and organizing and protesting — because being surveilled by law enforcement, including by drones, can change the way people speak and protest.” According to Fox News, a $100,000 grant from the Denver Police Foundation will help expand the DPD’s drone program. The police department halted usage of its only drone in 2018 due to constitutional concerns. Many Americans have legitimate privacy concerns and the expansion of the surveillance state via drones. NEW – Colorado police plan to use drones as first responders: "future of law enforcement."https://t.co/7aEAMi6vEa@disclosetv — THE VOICE CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS (@WETHEKINGDQMQ98) May 28, 2024 Per Fox News: “The long-term scope of what we are trying to do is drones as first responders,” Phil Gonshak, director of the department’s Strategic Initiatives Bureau told The Denver Post. “Basically, having stations on top of each one of our districts so we can respond with drones to critical needs or emergencies that arise throughout the city.” “We would never simply replace calls-for-service response by police officers,” he continued. “The DPD would respond to any call for service where someone is physically requesting a police officer on scene. But if there was a fight at Colfax and Cherokee and we put a drone in the air and there is no fight and nothing causing traffic issues, then we would reroute our police officers to other emergent calls.” Gonshak said the DPD hopes to create a public-facing dashboard which would allow residents to track Denver police drone flights to ease concerns about potential violations of people’s personal freedoms.

Bristolian krautrock-inspired trio Beak> will tour the UK and Europe from October to December

On May 28, 1996, Depeche Mode vocalist Dave Gahan 'died' for two minutes in a Los Angeles hospital. He woke up handcuffed to a policeman

Tim Pool, who refuses the label left or right, was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016 and didn’t vote for him, but Obama let him down. He now says, “I think you’re the greatest president of my lifetime.” “I’ll be honest. I didn’t vote for you in 2016. I was jaded. Obama let me down. […] The post Mr. Trump Speaks with Tim Pool: Immigration, War, Assange, Fauci appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Ángel Hernández, the umpire who was the target of heavy criticism over blown calls and sued Major League Baseball in 2017, claiming racial discrimination, is retiring after over 30 years as a major league umpire. MLB and Hernández, 62, reached a financial settlement over the weekend, USA Today reported. “Starting with my first major league game in 1991, I have had the very good experience of living out my childhood dream of umpiring in the major leagues,” Hernández said in a statement. “I treasured the camaraderie of my colleagues and the friendships I have made along the way. I have decided that I want to spend more time with my family.” Hernández claimed in his lawsuit that he was denied a crew chief position and World Series assignments because of his race, but a U.S. District Court in 2021 dismissed the case, later upheld by the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. “Hernández has failed to establish a statistically significant disparity between the promotion rates of white and minority umpires,” the appeals court stated. “MLB has provided persuasive expert evidence demonstrating that, during the years at issue, the difference in crew chief promotion rates between white and minority umpires was not statistically significant. Hernández offers no explanation as to why MLB’s statistical evidence is unreliable.” The Athletic reported that last week, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the grading system for umpires, saying, “There is, in fact, a really detailed evaluation system. They get evaluated twice a year, in mid-season, and at the end of the season. There are monetary ramifications to those evaluations in terms of what they get in terms of postseason assignments, which is a big part of — a big increment to what they earn. And there are, in fact, mandatory remedial activities that are more frequently than people realize imposed on umpires.” “Having said that, I think that the management of umpires is … a physically demanding job,” he continued. “It goes beyond just the evaluation, training and discipline. It also goes to things like thinking about their career path, how long should they be out there? And that implicates things like your retirement program. I mean, there’s a lot to the management of it that I don’t think everybody fully appreciates.” “There have been many positive changes in the game of baseball since I first entered the profession,” Hernández said in his statement Monday. “This includes the expansion and promotion of minorities. I am proud that I was able to be an active participant in that goal while being a major league umpire.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP In Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, Hernandez made three calls that were overturned. On April 12, 2018, he called three consecutive pitches outside the strike zone as strikes and miscalled seven other pitches. “Ángel was horrible,” Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez chafed after the 2018 playoff game. “Don’t get me going on Ángel now. Major League Baseball needs to do something about Ángel. It doesn’t matter how many times he sues Major League Baseball, he’s as bad as there is.” Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia echoed, “I don’t understand why he’s doing these games. He’s always bad. He’s a bad umpire.”