The Weekly Briefing 🇺🇸
Drone Disarms Suspect
In what officials are calling a nationwide first, Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies used a drone equipped with a high-powered magnet to remove a knife from an armed suspect’s hand inside a residence — avoiding a potentially dangerous confrontation, according to SFGATE. The operation is part of a broader expansion of drone programs across California, where 58 agencies now operate Drone as First Responder programs. In San Bernardino County, a DFR pilot launched in May has already responded to more than 100 calls, arriving before deputies 71% of the time and contributing to 12 arrests. Nationwide, approximately 1,500 police agencies use drone programs. California officials say the technology creates a critical safety buffer in high-risk situations — allowing deputies to gather information and, now, intervene directly without putting officers in immediate danger. 🔗 More here
A New Tool for Crime Data
Crime data analyst Jeff Asher has launched CrimeIndex.org, an expanded version of the Real-Time Crime Index that now includes historical FBI crime data going back to 1930, agency-level clearance rates, and staffing numbers for more than 10,000 city and county agencies, according to his Jeff-alytics newsletter. The site’s Current Trends tool tracks national crime patterns in near real-time using data from 566 agencies, updated monthly, while the new Historical Data Library allows anyone to compare today’s crime rates against any year back to the FBI’s first published data. National and state estimates go back to 1958, with agency-level data available as far back as records allow. Asher says the site was built to answer questions that previously required digging through decades of scanned PDFs — and to give law enforcement leaders, researchers, and journalists a single reliable source for both current trends and long-term historical context. 📊 More here (and subscribe to Jeff’s Substack).
Facing National Backlash
A national movement to cancel contracts with Flock Safety — the Atlanta-based company whose AI-enabled license plate readers now operate in more than 6,000 communities and log 20 billion plate reads a month — is gaining momentum across the political spectrum, according to the Wall Street Journal. About 50 cities and counties have canceled or deactivated Flock cameras since early last year, including liberal college towns like Cambridge, Massachusetts, and conservative communities like Lockhart, Texas. In Dayton, Ohio, the city suspended its cameras and covered them with garbage bags after discovering out-of-state agencies had accessed local data thousands of times for immigration searches. Critics have attacked cameras with saws and spray paint, while websites like DeFlock now map more than 106,000 license plate readers across the country. Courts have repeatedly upheld the technology as constitutional, but privacy advocates on both left and right argue that laws haven’t kept pace — and that persistent, long-term vehicle tracking amounts to warrantless mass surveillance regardless of what courts have said. 📸 More here
New Pod: Chief Wayne Jones
Minneapolis Sets Chief Search
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced Tuesday a 16-week timeline for selecting the city’s next permanent police chief, following the resignation of Brian O’Hara last month, according to MPR News. The city will work with a national executive search firm and conduct a six-phase process including community and stakeholder input and multiple rounds of candidate interviews. Frey expects to confirm a new chief by October or November. Council member Michael Rainville said three or four internal candidates are expected to apply — more than the single internal candidate who applied when O’Hara was hired — and expressed a preference for an internal hire to maintain momentum on reforms mandated under the city’s agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. 🔗 More here
Shot in the Head, Still Standing
A Utah deputy who was shot in the head while responding to the scene where two fellow officers had just been killed has emerged from nearly a year of recovery — and is now running for sheriff, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Mike Allred, a six-year Box Elder County Sheriff’s deputy, arrived at a Tremonton home on August 17, 2025, to find Sgt. Lee Sorensen and Officer Eric Estrada lying dead in the road, both fatally shot responding to a domestic disturbance. Moments later, Allred was struck in the head. Still in his vehicle, bleeding and unsure how badly he was hurt, he kept relaying information to dispatch until backup arrived. He still has hundreds of bullet fragments in his skull. What followed were months of therapy, painful introspection, and a question his therapist put directly to him: his old normal was gone — what would come next? “I kind of get a do-over,” Allred said. “I decided that if I’m going to make it through this, then I’ve got to put all of my effort into it.” His K-9, Azula — also wounded that night — healed fully and never hesitated to return to duty. Allred recently won the Republican primary for Box Elder County Sheriff. More here
Texas Trooper Killed in Traffic Stop
Texas Highway Patrol Trooper Sergio Romero, 27, was killed June 17 when a semi-truck pulled out in front of his patrol unit as he attempted a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 287 near Childress, according to USA Today. Romero, who had previously served with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office before joining DPS, leaves behind a wife and two young children. He is the 244th DPS officer to die in the line of duty since 1823. “Trooper Sergio Romero served the people of his community and the state of Texas with courage, integrity and selfless devotion,” DPS Colonel Freeman F. Martin said. “We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice he made in service of his fellow Texans.” 💙🖤 More here
Deputy Killed at Crash Scene
Montgomery County (TX) Sheriff’s Deputy Erika Serrato, 24, was killed early Sunday morning after being struck by a commercial truck while directing traffic at a DWI crash scene on I-45 North near The Woodlands, according to KWTX. Serrato, a six-year veteran of the department, was hit along with two marked patrol units with emergency lights activated. She was transported to a local hospital where she died. A second deputy was treated and released after being struck by debris. One of the initial crash drivers, Ashton Jammer, 34, was charged with DWI. A separate report from Walker County Constable Pct. 3 noted that a law enforcement officer from Mabank, Texas, was also killed the same day while directing traffic. “Our hearts are broken today,” said Sheriff Doolittle. “Deputy Serrato made the ultimate sacrifice while serving and protecting our community.” 💙🖤 More here
AI Avatar to Fight Fraud 🇯🇵
Osaka Prefectural Police have introduced an AI avatar named AIko — a virtual police chief with the face and voice of a young woman — to combat a record-breaking fraud epidemic that cost Japanese victims more than $2 billion last year, according to The Independent. Appearing on YouTube, AIko walks viewers through real scam conversation patterns and warns the public that legitimate police officers never show credentials or arrest warrants online. The campaign targets younger audiences increasingly vulnerable to scams carried out through social media, after preliminary figures showed people 64 and under accounted for nearly half of all fraud victims in Osaka last year. Many of the criminal networks behind the scams operate from compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia, with more than 30 Japanese nationals arrested in the first five months of this year for allegedly participating in overseas fraud operations. AIko’s launch is part of a broader Japanese government push to integrate AI across public services. 🤖 More here