Yesterday, we posted about the chancellor's deflection by focusing on pursuit of the thugs who attacked the encampment rather than pursuing the Big Questions surrounding the responsibility for allowing a situation to get progressively out of hand over a period of a week, leading to an explosive conclusion.* In effect, the story becomes a whodunit rather than who was responsible for it.
But you've got to give the PR folks credit. Deflections, diversions, sleights-of-hand often do work. For example, the LA Times is now breathlessly focused on the use of the latest technology to find the culprits. Images are being scanned!! Social media posts are being scrutinized!! Videos are being watched!! License plates are being read!!
It is shaping up to be perhaps the biggest case in the history of the UCLA Police Department: how to identify dozens of people who attacked a pro-Palestinian camp at the center of campus last week. The mob violence was captured on live television, but it took three hours for police to bring it to an end. Those involved left, and no arrests were made. [Underline added.]
But the trail is not cold.
UCLA detectives are now scanning hundreds of images in an attempt to identify the attackers. They intend to use technology that captures facial images and compares them to other photos on the internet and social media to put names to faces, according to law enforcement sources. The same technology has allowed police to identify suspects in smash-and-grab retail burglaries. It also was the heart of the Jan. 6 investigation, in which videos of those storming the U.S. Capitol helped the FBI identify many of the assailants and led federal prosecutors to charge more than 1,300 people. In those cases, investigators often were able to find social media images of the assailant wearing the same clothing as during the attack.
“Technology has made the entire community into the eyes of law enforcement,” said retired Los Angeles police Capt. Paul Vernon, who led an effort after a mini-riot following the Lakers’ NBA championship victory in 2010 that resulted in dozens of arrests based on videos, social media posts and security footage. “Photo recognition has gotten a lot easier.”
Vernon said an investigator also could gather cellphone data from the immediate area to prove an individual was there at the time of the incident. In some cases, assailants may have posted to their social media accounts, essentially bragging about their actions. Officers wearing body cameras may have also captured some of the behavior, he said. The attackers likely came in vehicles, so UCLA police will be examining data from license plate readers for movements near campus on May 1. Security cameras on streets neighboring the campus where they likely parked could yield more clues...
Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-07/ucla-police-use-high-tech-tactics-to-find-masked-mob-who-attacked-encampment.
Yours truly is reminded of the 1950s TV police drama "Dragnet" in which Sargeant Friday of the LAPD always got his man. (Younger folks can Google it or find old Dragnets on YouTube.)
Or maybe it is like Cold War dramas in which the FBI relentlessly pursues Soviet agents using the latest technology:
Igor sure isn't going to get far with these tech-savvy guys on his trail!
Maybe the fact that the LA Times is fixated on finding the bat-wielding culprits isn't surprising. As they say, it sells newspapers. But yours truly is disappointed that the Academic Senate seemingly has focused on last Tuesday's thugs rather asking the many other questions that need answers:
https://senate.ucla.edu/news/message-academic-senate-leadership.
The Senate can do better.
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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/05/questions-and-deflections.html.
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