I've been in the news business 35 years, spending much of my career in editing roles at local newspapers in Los Angeles, Detroit, and the Quad-Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Upon moving to Denver in 2018, I began experiencing severe mental illness due to several traumatic experiences. I became homeless on the street for about a year before spending time in the state mental hospital. I am living proof that people can rebound from mental illness with proper treatment, even after experiencing homelessness. I consider myself a lucky guy to live in a great place like Denver. I hope my writing reflects the passion I have for living here. You can email me news releases and story ideas at NewsBreakDave@gmail.com
The Aurora City Council voted Monday to purchase software called Truleo that will help supervisors analyze police officer videos from body-worn cameras.
The software, which uses artificial intelligence, will:
· Automatically transcribe and classify events in body-worn camera audio.
· Automatically detect the officer speaking.
· Automatically detect risky officer behaviors, such as profanity.
· Automatically detect professional officer behaviors, such as explanation and gratitude.
· Visualize insights (positive/negative) across all officer and civilian interactions.
Privacy concerns
Council member Juan Marcano expressed privacy concerns about the software. City Attorney Pete Schulte said the software automatically redacts personal information. It does not create new data but rather analyzes information already in the Evidence.com database.
“The majority of this information remains dormant and is not utilized unless it is randomly selected for an audit, and/or a commendation or complaint is received,” according to a memo from Chief Information Officer Scott Newman to the council. “This is due to the sheer volume of videos generated and stored each day, as it would require several humans to review those videos on a daily basis.”
Helps reach consent decree goals
Schulte said the software will help Aurora reach its goals under the consent decree instituted after the Elijah McClain death. Unreviewed body camera footage “potentially represents a risk to the agency and represents a missed opportunity to leverage the data to gain insights and improve police operations,” according to the memo. “The Truleo platform performs that analysis in near real-time as videos are uploaded and will flag videos that meet departmental conditions so they can be surfaced for faster review by the appropriate staff.”
Breaking bad habits
Schulte said the consent decree monitor has emphasized officers need to break bad habits sooner rather than later. Police Chief Art Acevedo said it’s all about restoring the community’s trust in the department.
Schulte disclosed that Acevedo at one time had an interest in Truleo but has since divested. He said police brass in Aurora chose Truleo before hiring Acevedo.
I've been in the news business 35 years, spending much of my career in editing roles at local newspapers in Los Angeles, Detroit, and the Quad-Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Upon moving to Denver in 2018, I began experiencing severe mental illness due to several traumatic experiences. I became homeless on the street for about a year before spending time in the state mental hospital. I am living proof that people can rebound from mental illness with proper treatment, even after experiencing homelessness. I consider myself a lucky guy to live in a great place like Denver. I hope my writing reflects the passion I have for living here. You can email me news releases and story ideas at NewsBreakDave@gmail.com
More from David Heitz
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One of my biggest goals while writing for NewsBreak is to dispel myths about homelessness. I’m glad to use 35 years in the journalism business to better explain homelessness, which I experienced myself in 2019 followed by a year in jail and a year in the state mental institution.
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The Denver City Council will vote Monday to extend the disaster declaration in the county related to sheltering migrants through April 24. It was set to expire March 27. Denver, a self-proclaimed “sanctuary city,” has provided services to more than 5,000 migrants so far. Mayor Michael Hancock issued the declaration in December. Last month, the council also extended it at his request.
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The Denver City Council will pump $175,430 Monday into two programs intended to sweep homeless encampments off the streets and get people housed. The money will pay for the Denver Street Outreach Collaborative (DSOC) and Strategic Outreach to Large Encampments (SOLE) programs. The collaborative provides outreach and engagement services, as well as intensive, housing-focused case management services to youth and adults experiencing homelessness in Denver. The program focuses on those who are chronically homeless, disconnected from facility-based programming, and in encampment settings. Case management services include connecting clients to OneHome and helping to.
In 2022, every 38 hours someone died of a fentanyl overdose in Denver. That sobering statistic is according to Dr. Sterling McLarem of the Denver Medical Examiner’s Office. She spoke during a roundtable on fentanyl during the Public Safety, Housing, Education and Homelessness Committee meeting of the Denver City Council on Wednesday. She was joined by Dr. Robert Valuck, a professor of public health at Anschutz Medical Campus, who spoke knowledgeably and passionately about the fentanyl crisis.
It’s a homelessness solution some officials have fawned over – putting people in ice fishing tents set up as legal encampments. A new survey by Housekeys Action Network Denver and Western Regional Advocacy Project made a few things perfectly clear. People experiencing homelessness do want housing, despite the untrue refrain that most are “service-resistant.”
(Denver, Colo.) The City and County of Denver plans to hire a dozen law firms to handle its civil lawsuits. The city paid out $1.6 million in police settlements Monday. The lawsuits in U.S. District Court stem from police brutality claims made during the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020. The settlements include:
The Denver City Council awarded three contracts totaling $7.4 million Monday to agencies assisting people experiencing homelessness. The council gave Colorado Coalition for the Homeless a $6 million contract to head the rehousing collaborative. “The rehousing collaborative is a coalition of service providers that coordinate together to provide short-term bridge shelter, rapid rehousing rental assistance, and supportive services to qualifying participants experiencing homelessness,” according to a memo from the department of Housing Stability to council members. “This contract provides funding to support the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless continuing to serve as the lead agency coordinating the collaborative’s efforts….”
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