The Weekly Briefing
Curated News for Public Safety
UBER WITH GUNS – Are regular rideshare apps not thrilling enough for you? Need some excitement, or is it your fantasy to ride in a dark window-tinted SUV with an armed bodyguard like a scene out of “Succession?” Well, now you’re in luck. Protector is now available on the iOS and Mac App Store, offering rideshare services like we know with Uber and Lyft, but with a twist. Your ride comes with a personal “protector” in the form of former military and law enforcement professionals who are, of course, armed with guns.
MORE: To describe the new app in simple terms, one mobile app advisor, Nikita Bier, took to X on Wednesday. “Over the last few months, I’ve been advising Protectors: a new app for ordering an on-demand security detail,” Bier said. “Or more simply: Uber with guns.” When booking, you can select the amount of “protectors” you want inside your ride. You can choose their dress code between four options: “Business formal” (a traditional suit), “Business Causal” (a lighter suit without a tie), “Tactical Casual” (a polo shirt with tactical pants and shoes) and “Operator” (full-on SWAT attire).
REAL-TIME CRIME INDEX – Great resource: The RTCI is a sample of reported crime data from hundreds of law enforcement agencies nationwide which mimics national crime trends with as little lag and the most accuracy possible. Crime statistics are inexact, but sampling agencies in this way is a proven method for accurately measuring trends while waiting for national crime estimates published each year. The RTCI is an initiative built by AH Datalytics and supported by Arnold Ventures.
INTERROGATE AND DETAIN – Federal immigration officials are quickly and quietly rolling out a new street-level strategy for how state and local police collaborate with the Trump Administration’s agenda of mass deportations, a model now spreading across Florida and across the nation. The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) was the first agency in the nation to reach one of these new agreements. Four other statewide police agencies in Florida have followed suit. “We have set the stage for other states to follow, and I think you are going to see more states doing that in the ensuing weeks and months,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis at a recent press conference. DeSantis has suggested the new powers will be used to “interrogate” and “detain” people for suspected immigration violations after being pulled over for traffic stops. A copy of the agreement with FHP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) obtained by WLRN confirms the new powers under the agreement.
PREYING ON IMMIGRANTS – Maybe the tipoff that something was awry should have been the instructions from the supposed lawyer to pay processing and application fees to U.S. immigration authorities through Western Union. Wendy, however, wired the money, $300 and then $600, as instructed to a Dallas, Texas, office of the financial services company. After a supposed online court hearing in her immigration case, though, the woman — an immigrant from Peru seeking asylum — figured out she had been duped. The supposed judge in the video hearing wasn't the judge she was accustomed to, and he spoke Spanish, which seemed unusual. She started digging, looked up her immigration case online, and found she had missed her actual immigration court appearance because she took part in what turned out to be a fake hearing with the Spanish-speaking man, posing as a judge.
MORE: Apprehension and frayed nerves aren't the only issues for immigrants as they deal with the amplified efforts by immigration authorities under President Donald Trump to detain and deport immigrants here illegally. They also potentially have to contend with fraudsters posing as attorneys preying on their desperation for legal advice as they try to normalize their migratory status.
TRAIN HEISTS – Thieves have targeted freight trains running through the deserts of California and Arizona in a string of audacious heists resulting in the theft of more than $2 million worth of new Nike sneakers, including many that haven't hit the retail market yet, according to officials and court documents. In a Jan. 13 robbery, suspects cut an air brake hose on a BNSF freight train traveling through a remote section of Arizona and made off with more than 1,900 pairs of unreleased Nikes worth more than $440,000, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Phoenix. Many of the shoes were Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s, which won’t be available to the public until March 14 and are expected to retail at $225 per pair, the complaint states. It was one of at least 10 heists targeting BNSF trains in remote areas of the Mojave Desert since last March that authorities are investigating, the Los Angeles Times reported. All but one resulted in the theft of Nike sneakers, according to investigators.
CHINESE MONEY BROKERS – On an October morning in 2022, an alleged drug trafficker drove a white pickup truck into the parking lot of a Global Fresh Market in San Gabriel, Calif., and stopped alongside a blue Maserati. After a quick discussion with a woman in the Maserati, the man placed a large black bag in the sportscar’s back seat. Members of a U.S. government task force, who were watching, say it contained some $300,000 in cash. The drop was part of what U.S. officials say is a new front in America’s war on drugs: an emerging partnership that has made China a crucial pit stop for dirty money flowing from the U.S.’s fentanyl crisis, according to law-enforcement officials and court documents.
MORE: Chinese money brokers, part of an underground banking system that has long served the country’s immigrant diaspora, have become go-to partners for fentanyl traffickers and other criminal groups needing to launder illicit drug profits, officials say. Long operating in the shadows, the Chinese brokers use intermediaries, such as the woman in the Maserati, to collect drug profits from fentanyl dealers. Then, through a series of transactions, they sell those dollars to Chinese customers who want cash in the U.S. for purposes such as buying real estate or other investments, but can’t legally send money directly from China because of capital controls there. The drug dealers end up with clean money in the process, law-enforcement officials say.
KIKI CAMARENA – Mexican authorities extradited to the U.S. drug boss Rafael Caro Quintero who is wanted for the 1985 killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, delivering on a longstanding demand by the U.S. amid rising pressure from the Trump administration. Caro Quintero’s extradition comes as President Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico’s exports to the U.S. if the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum didn’t boost efforts to fight U.S.-bound fentanyl, which kills tens of thousands of Americans each year. Mexico’s government said that Caro Quintero was part of a group of 29 imprisoned Mexicans accused of crimes in the U.S. extradited Thursday. Two leaders of the violent Zetas cartel, notorious for carrying out massacres in Mexico, were also extradited, the government said.
SEIZED CRYPTO – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) is tasked with managing assets seized by law enforcement in the course of criminal investigations, like real estate, cash, jewelry, antiques or vehicles. It is also supposed to be handling cryptocurrencies — for example, the billions of dollars worth of bitcoin (BTC) seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from darknet marketplace Silk Road in 2013. However, the USMS doesn’t seem to know how much crypto it currently has. In fact, the agency is struggling to come up with a rough estimate of even its bitcoin holdings, a source familiar with the matter told CoinDesk.
AI AND HIGHWAY SAFETY – The quest for safe, accident-free roads has existed for more than a century with mixed success at best. Now, according to many automotive experts, AI is poised to become the 21st century's most important road safety technology. AI's potential lies in its ability to sift through vast amounts of data -- numeric, text, and images -- to identify patterns that enhance the capabilities of today’s active safety and intelligent transportation systems, says Bryan Reimer, founder and co-director of the MIT Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium.
MORE: By analyzing data from vehicle sensors, cameras, and historical traffic patterns, AI can proactively alert drivers to potential hazards, such as sudden stops, adverse weather, and other risky conditions, says Peter Mitchell, general manager at Verizon Connect vehicle tracking system. In an online interview, he notes that AI-powered analytics can identify risky behaviors, such as harsh braking or rapid acceleration, before they lead to incidents. "With predictive insights and real-time data, AI empowers drivers and fleet operators alike, enabling proactive, safety-focused decisions across the fleet," Mitchell states.
NEW COLONEL – Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel Matthew J. Hanley as the Superintendent of the Virginia State Police (VSP). After a nationwide search to find a replacement for former Superintendent Gary T. Settle. The appointment to Superintendent includes a promotion to the rank of Colonel.
NEW CHIEF – A familiar face at the Raleigh Police Department (RPD) is now the chief. Friday afternoon, the city announced Rico Boyce as the top cop for RPD. "We are pleased to announce that our national search process has identified someone who has served Raleigh for more than two decades as our next Chief of Police. Rico Boyce has demonstrated that he knows how to effectively work with the community, and our process demonstrated the trust the community and the police department have in him," Adams-David said.
BI-PARTISAN MENTAL HEALTH BILL – The millions of first responders who risk their lives to serve their communities could soon receive additional help in handling the mental health challenges that often accompany their high-stress jobs. On Tuesday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the First Responders Wellness Act, a bipartisan bill to expand the mental health services available to our nation’s first responders. “Police officers, firefighters, and EMTs face unique stressors, and as a result, they are at high risk of developing PTSD and other mental health problems. We owe it to our first responders to do more to help,” said Gillibrand. The bill, if passed, will establish a dedicated first responders mental health hotline to provide peer and emotional support, information, brief intervention, and mental or behavioral health and substance use resources,
THESE ARE BADA** – The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will receive a “fleet” of Tesla Cybertrucks to start patrolling the streets of the valley, the sheriff announced at the State of the Department address. According to Sheriff Kevin McMahill, the department will be receiving 10 Cybertrucks, which will be made to look like LVMPD patrol and SWAT cars. The sheriff posted what appeared to be renderings of what the trucks could look like on his X account, writing “These are bada**.”
OFFICER DOWN – Hinds County (MS) Deputy Sheriff Martin Shields was shot and killed while responding to a domestic call. A female requested help in retrieving her belongings from a home. When Deputy Shields and another deputy arrived at the scene, a man inside the house fired at them. The suspect also shot his wife and another female trying to flee the home.