A matte black Cybertruck recently joined Kazakhstan state security.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations has acquired one as well already.
Its arrival follows the start of Cybertruck sales in the Middle East.
Tesla’s trouble moving the Cybertruck in any meaningful quantity on US soil is by now thoroughly documented. Before the electric pickup ever reached a showroom, Elon Musk boasted that Tesla could move as many as 500,000 a year. The reality has been less kind. In 2025, American buyers took home just over 20,000 of them.
While it seems the Cybertruck has lost a lot of its initial luster in the US, it is slowly being introduced in other markets. One of them is Kazakhstan, where a handful are being used by government departments, proving that the car’s controversial design does have its perks.
In mid-May, a matte black Cybertruck served the State Security Service during the Summit of the Organization for Turkic States, held in Kazakhstan’s Turkistan region. Fitted with flashing blue and red lights, the Tesla was reportedly donated to the authorities by a local entrepreneur.
It started out as a mobile command center, and from here it will take on a central role at major security events across the country, handling field coordination between units and providing communications support.
A Second Cybertruck
This isn’t the only Cybertruck roaming the roads of Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Emergency Situations has folded one into its fleet too, this one wrapped in matte white with orange and blue graphics. According to vice minister Yerbolat Sadyrbayev, the truck has proven itself capable of tackling the treacherous terrain of the country’s mountainous Almaty Region.
— Consulat général du Kazakhstan à Strasbourg (@KazStrasbourg) May 14, 2026
“Our ministry deals with situations where assistance must be provided as quickly as possible and every minute counts,” Sadyrbayev told Kazinform. “The Cybertruck has proven to be highly effective in responding to various emergency situations. We are talking about saving people’s lives.” The minister added that the government plans to add more Cybertrucks to its fleet, although he didn’t specify how many.
At this stage, it seems Tesla will take any Cybertruck order it can get. With US sales sliding from 39,965 in 2024 to just 20,237 in 2025, the company has been eager to sell the truck wherever there’s an appetite for one, even if it’s just for show. Earlier this year, it even started selling the electric pickup in the Middle East.
Waymo deleted interior footage of the suspect before police contacted them.
Police haven’t been able to identify the suspect using their rider account.
Six months after the theft, SF authorities continue searching for the suspect.
A Waymo robotaxi can be fooled into rolling straight into a flooded street, but it turns out the same self-driving cars have no trouble pulling getaway duty for a crime. They are, it seems, alarmingly good at helping criminals disappear.
Earlier this year, an unidentified suspect walked into a Hot 8 Yoga studio in San Francisco and left in a hurry with an armful of pricey activewear. He had arrived by Waymo and used the same car to escape, dumping the loot into the trunk of the autonomous I-Pace before riding off.
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, local authorities took their time looking into the theft. A search warrant landed on Waymo in April, ordering the company to hand over everything it knew about the account behind the ride, along with video from inside and outside the car to help identify the thief.
However, by the time the search warrant was filed in April, Waymo had already wiped the cabin footage. The company doesn’t publicly say how long it keeps video, and on top of that, its exterior cameras always blur faces for privacy reasons. So despite each robotaxi packing a small arsenal of high-definition cameras, none of them helped track down the thief.
That’s a tough pill to swallow when you consider the hardware involved. According to Waymo’s website, its latest Jaguars feature 29 cameras that provide a full 360-degree view of their surroundings. The user’s account information didn’t lead police to a suspect either, perhaps because whoever booked the ride used stolen credentials or a burner phone.
All For Some Men’s Shorts
The studio manager of Hot 8 Yoga says footage from outside the location shows the Waymo dropping off the individual and waiting for him to return with the stolen loot. Although he only made off with a bunch of men’s shorts, it’s certainly possible this case might encourage other criminals to escape in robotaxis.
Los Angeles saw a version of this last year, when someone bolted from a grocery store theft in a Waymo. That one ended differently. Police caught up with the robotaxi, forced it to the side of the road, and arrested the suspect.
A Flock camera outside of Washington Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Controversy over Flock license plate reading cameras has rippled across Wisconsin, causing people to fill public hearings as some regions remove the cameras, and others overhaul auditing and oversight. Activists, elected officials and police departments are navigating disagreements over privacy, safety, freedom and the facts about the surveillance network.
Communities including Dane County, Verona, Monona, Fitchburg, Appleton, Oshkosh and Sturgeon Bay are dropping contracts with the multi-billion company Flock Safety because of heightened awareness and public anxiety over surveillance.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
Officers and deputies from three different agencies and three separate counties stand accused of misusing Flock cameras, which compile images of vehicles and their license plates into a database which can be searched by police. When the Examiner reviewed five months of Flock data last year, it contained many thousands of searches conducted by 221 Wisconsin law enforcement agencies.
All three officers are accused of tracking their romantic partners, with officers Josue Ayala of Milwaukee and Cristian Morales of Menasha facing charges for which they have upcoming court appearances. Ayala is scheduled for sentencing in June and Morales has a jury trial in July. Kenosha County Deputy Frank McGrath was not charged for misconduct over his use of Flock to track another deputy he was dating and a John Doe petition seeking charges in the case has been sealed by a judge, according to court records.
“It’s powerful technology,” Heba Mohammad, an organizer with Milwaukee4Palestine — one of the local groups pushing against Flock cameras — told the Examiner.
Milwaukee4Palestine has focused on police surveillance as cameras, automatic license plate readers like Flock, and facial recognition technology and drones came to Milwaukee. “As Palestinians, we know what that is a signal of,” said Mohammad, pointing out that similar surveillance tested on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank has been adopted by U.S. law enforcement agencies. “The road to fascism is paved with well-intentioned surveillance technology.”
Milwaukee4Palestine organized to oppose facial recognition technology and then Flock. “We know this is what is next,” said Mohammad. “We’ve seen how surveillance can be used to oppress people.”
A City of Verona Flock camera which has been covered by local officials after the city’s contract with Flock Safety ended. (Photo courtesy of Mayor Luke Diaz).
Although MPD stands by its use of Flock, the department has also been forced to revamp its auditing procedures. Over the last couple of months, the department has limited the number of officers who have access to Flock. James Lewis, risk manager for MPD, told the Wisconsin Examiner that access was restricted to an “as needed basis,” and that requests need to go through the chain of command, creating more of a paper trail when Flock is used.
While some units or bureaus investigating serious crimes had clearer needs for Flock, “in patrol, we wanted to make sure that the officers who had it really had the need to have this software,” said Lewis. MPD is also using audit data to flag “outlier” data that indicate questionable Flock uses, such as an officer searching the same vehicle multiple times over a short period, or not attaching case numbers to searches. MPD shares its Flock network with state partners, but not with federal agencies.
“We are of the position that the risks far outweigh the benefits of this technology and again, particularly with a police force like the Milwaukee Police Department that has been granted a lot of impunity through Act 12 [and has] basically no accountability,” said Mohammad. “And they are demonstrating time and time again that they don’t care what the community thinks.”
Lewis said that the department is trying to nail down exactly how Flock affects the community. “I think a lot of what we’ve seen through public comment, through the commissioners’ comments, through news media coverage for this is, ‘Hey this is this big data surveillance network and it’s got a lot of these pitfalls in it,” said Lewis. “But I think the other piece of it that we’re really trying to get our hands on is how is this making police work more efficient? Is it driving public safety outcomes? Are we getting what we want out of it and through audit, we’re trying to tell those stories as well.”
Lewis said MPD is working on answering some of those questions, especially the question of whether there is a return on investment in terms of public safety. “If there is outlier data generated, I want to know not just compliance or not, but also what did the city get out of this? Is it a safer place because of this?” Lewis said that MPD has chosen to overhaul its auditing practices on its own in a tailor-made fashion, rather than waiting on Flock Safety to develop a fix.
The department highlighted 24 different situations where Flock was used, including felony firearms investigations, parole violations, narcotics trafficking, homicide, material witnesses needed at criminal trials, stolen vehicles, overdose death investigations, sexual assault, shootings and armed robberies. In one of the examples involving theft, MPD specified in an email that “Flock was used to develop patterns of movement in the suspect vehicle” to determine whether it was related to other thefts.
Balancing tracking, privacy, and public safety
The extent to which Flock can track and surveil people has been a source of tension at public meetings. In December, Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball and Chief Deputy Brain Barkow said that calling Flock a form of tracking is a misrepresentation. They argued that although Flock alerts officers that a vehicle has been sighted, they would still need to go to the area of the alert and search for the vehicle. In other words, Flock doesn’t see everything.
But the technology appears to have greater surveillance capabilities than some departments and even Flock itself have described.
The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department has also said that Flock is “not used for general surveillance, traffic enforcement, or monitoring individuals not connected to an investigation.” However, the agency’s Flock data shows that officers entered “surveillance” and “traffic offense” as reasons for searching the camera network.
A Flock camera on the Lac Courte Orielles Reservation in Sawyer County. (Photo by Frank Zufall/Wisconsin Examiner)
Oshkosh officials voted to continue a Flock contract only to reverse course the next day, saying that they’d been misled by Flock representatives over the camera’s ability to produce heat maps visualizing where a vehicle has been. At a meeting in April, Oshkosh Police Chief Dean Smith told local elected officials that because of that “misrepresentation” he could “I can no longer recommend Flock.”
“I think it depends on how it’s used,” Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis told the Examiner. “I think if it’s misused, you can misuse this technology in a way that would allow you to track someone.” Yet, Davis feels that Flock can be an asset when used for legitimate criminal investigations. “I think people sometimes misunderstand how the technology works.”
Davis concedes of Flock use that in some ways, “yeah, that’s kind of tracking someone. But I have a legitimate criminal predicate for doing so.” At the same time, he condemns the use of Flock for personal reasons, like spying on ex-wives or partners. “The government doesn’t get to do that,” said Davis. “That’s unlawful overreach into someone’s life because there’s no legitimate public safety reason for getting access to that data.”
Davis was hired at Green Bay in late 2021, when the city was experiencing a rise in gun violence. After deciding not to adopt gunshot detection tech, the city pivoted to automatic license plate readers.
“At the time Flock was one of very few, if not the only company that had stationary license plate reader technology,” said Davis. “With gun crimes, the faster you can develop a suspect and make an arrest, the better, because there’s a retaliatory cycle that happens.” The department has been able to locate homicide suspects who fled to other states, hit-and-run suspects, and stolen vehicles using Flock.
Davis said that “license plate reader technology has been a game changer for all of us. On the other hand, you still have to take people’s privacy concerns seriously.” He stressed that “anytime you’re collecting that much data about people as they just go about their daily business, you have to be really careful with how that’s used.”
A police officer uses the Flock Safety license plate reader system. Many left-leaning states and cities are trying to protect their residents’ personal information amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, but a growing number of conservative lawmakers also want to curb the use of surveillance technologies. (Photo courtesy of Flock Safety)
How Flock can be layered with other surveillance technologies also worry community members. In May, officers in Wauwatosa used Flock surveillance and a drone to track a robbery suspect.
The debate reminds Davis of the words of a mentor, that being a police chief is “the great balancing act of municipal government.” He added that, “I think it would be a mistake for us to not take people’s privacy concerns seriously in this conversation.”
As cases of misuse have popped up, the Green Bay Police Department has also tightened its use of Flock. They used their own audit to look for suspicious searches, and didn’t detect any instances of misuse. “We didn’t find any of that in our audit that we did, but it doesn’t hurt to ratchet it down as much as we can,” said Davis. “Because again, I understand, like you’re talking about people’s sensitive information. We have to be responsible with how we use that, and there have to be safeguards in place.”
The department has also restricted which outside agencies can access its Flock network. While there was an initial belief that “the bigger the network, the more valuable the tool,” Davis said that Green Bay PD has “re-thought that over the last few weeks.” Now only agencies in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, eastern Wisconsin from Green Bay to Milwaukee, and the Chicagoland area (including Racine, Kenosha, and Cook counties along with some Chicago suburbs and a small portion of Indiana around the city of Gary) can search within Green Bay’s network.
“We figure that makes more sense to have more of a rationale for why we share data,” said Davis. “Because I don’t have control over how those other agencies manage their employees. It’s not that I don’t trust them, but if they want that information then they can call us and they can explain what they’re working on, and we’ll see if we can help them.”
The Milwaukee Police Administration Building downtown. A surveillance van, or “critical response vehicle” is in the background. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Green Bay PD is also utilizing a drop down menu with pre-designated options for using Flock, rather than allowing officers to type whatever they want. When the Examiner conducted its first analysis of Flock last year, there were several departments which used vague search terms, even just putting a dot or “.” as the reason for searching Flock. When the Examiner brought it to the Waukesha Police Department’s attention, the department said an officer was re-trained and counseled.
Captain Dan Baumann of the Waukesha PD said in an email statement that since then, the department has “strengthened its oversight of Flock Safety by increasing formal audits from twice per year to monthly.” There are also random audits in addition to the mandatory audit, as well as an AI-powered Flock audit assistance tool to flag suspicious searches. The department’s standard operating procedure has also been adjusted. No further instances of vague labeling have arisen, and no discipline has been issued in connection to use of Flock.
Baumann said Flock has assisted investigations such as in a vehicle break-in where leads were limited, and using Flock allowed investigators to identify a suspect’s vehicle and connect it to cases in Dane County. Flock was also used to locate someone involved in a shooting, and who pointed a gun during a road rage incident, Baumann said.
Communities waking up to surveillance risks
While it may be encouraging that departments are changing procedures and upping auditing, advocates still have questions about whether it will be enough. Jon McCray Jones, policy analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin, hopes that people “don’t miss the forest for the trees” by focusing solely on Flock, when other companies sell similar technology.
“I don’t believe that law enforcement are just acting out of good faith with a lot of these regulatory changes and auditing changes to Flock,” McCray Jones told the Examiner. “I believe that it comes from sustained pressure started at the most local level from people understanding and realizing the dangers associated with all these cameras and automated license plate readers, and specifically Flock, who is the worst company out of all of them so far.”
People fill a Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission meeting protesting Flock and facial recognition technology. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
It all also ties back to a growing mistrust and fear over the federal government. Under President Donald Trump, federal immigration agents have flooded Democratic-led cities across the country, resulting in multiple shootings and deaths in Minnesota earlier this year. The Trump administration has also directed federal agencies to begin investigating left-wing groups it has accused of domestic terrorism.
Mohammad said that the ICE surges really brought surveillance to the forefront when people began to see “ICE agents scanning people’s faces in different cities, and telling them that we have a database and we can recognize your name. Or pulling people’s license plates and figuring out what their names were so that they could harass them directly by name.” She added, “I think this political moment is also a moral and ethical one.”
McCray Jones also said the issue of police surveillance has new urgency as communities are “being targeted and their neighbors being disappeared by the federal government.” ICE and other federal agencies have access to Flock either directly, or through assistance from local and state agencies which have contracts with the company. Public officials, under pressure from voters, are “jumping on board,” McCray Jones said, “and they’re feeling courageous and empowered to take on these surveillance systems.”
Public meetings about surveillance technology in Milwaukee are energized, Mohammad said. “I don’t want to say exciting because I think that really betrays the seriousness of the moment,” she said. “But there is that buzz that often happens when that room is full, or there was a time when they had to open the overflow room.” It’s shown Mohammad that “people care about this stuff and that’s why I think that it’s really incredible that even though the FPC doesn’t really have any teeth to its accountability anymore, we as residents are using as many avenues as are open to us to make our voices heard.”
People fill a Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission meeting protesting Flock and facial recognition technology. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
McCray Jones suggests that people care about Flock because “at its core, it’s one of the easiest surveillance technologies for people to understand.” He believes that people understand that “anyone who drives is impacted by this technology in a way that other surveillance technologies, say like ShotSpotters or Stingray…I think people have a harder time one: knowing how these technologies work but two: viewing themselves as potential victims.”
He added that in several cases, including in Milwaukee, officers who misused the technology were caught by people using websites like HaveIBeenFlocked, not by the department. “So we don’t know how much these systems are being abused,” he said. “And I think elected officials should use these moments of high, intense scrutiny from the community and in the media, and having anecdotal stories of officers doing this right now, to really be courageous and take the lead to fight for more accountability measures before the public forgets about this story, and forgets about the danger that they are under due to law enforcement’s ability to track where you are at all times.”
Mohammad said that she and her allies are not quitting anytime soon. “We understand our position, we understand the risks here,” she told the Examiner. “And so we’re not going to back down. We do not want our communities to be surveilled. And we believe that public safety comes from investments in other areas, not in police surveillance.”
A school bus driver contracted to transport students for the Rantoul City School District in Illinois has been arrested on allegations of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, reported WCIA News.
According to the news report, 35-year-old Illinois school bus driver Johnnie C. McClendon Jr. was taken into custody May 28 following an investigation conducted by the Rantoul Police Department. Police said McClendon was arrested without incident.
McClendon is employed by First Student Inc., the transportation company contracted to provide bus services for the district, said police via the article.
“At this time, investigators have received no allegations of misconduct related to his employment, and the investigation appears to involve matters unrelated to his position with the company,” the police department said in a statement to local news reporters.
Police reportedly declined to release additional details, citing the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and the privacy of those involved. Court records had not been updated as of Friday to reflect formal charges filed by the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office. McClendon remained in custody following his initial court appearance.
Rantoul City Schools Superintendent Scott Woods said district officials were notified by police of the arrest and immediately contacted First Student regarding the driver’s status.
“We have confirmed with First Student that the individual will not be driving for our school district in future,” Woods said in a letter sent to families.
Woods said district officials have been informed that the allegations are not related to McClendon’s conduct while driving a school bus. However, he noted the district has not received information indicating whether the alleged conduct involved a student enrolled in the district.
“We take all matters involving the safety and well-being of children extremely seriously and are monitoring the situation closely,” Woods wrote. “Student safety remains our highest priority.”
The district said it will continue cooperating with law enforcement and communicating with First Student as appropriate.
Police encouraged anyone who may have experienced inappropriate conduct, whether related to the case or otherwise, to contact the Rantoul Police Department. The investigation remains ongoing.
In 2024, a sheriff’s deputy working for the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department was forced out for being lousy at his job. But even though the deputy, Cristian Morales, was flagged in the state’s negative separation database, he ended up being hired a few months later by the Menasha Police Department.
Earlier this year, Morales was arrested and accused of stalking an ex-girlfriend using the city’s Flock camera system. He’s now facing criminal charges.
While some folks are suited for the difficult work of being a law enforcement officer, many are not. It’s hardly a controversial statement to say that police, who can arrest people and use force when necessary, should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us.
And yet our reporting at The Badger Project has found that police chiefs and sheriffs in Wisconsin often give these “wandering officers” second or third chances, despite research saying that officers fired or forced out for misconduct are more likely than other cops to reoffend.
At our last count, more than 300 active officers in Wisconsin had been fired or forced out of previous law enforcement jobs. Many of these separations involved novices who couldn’t cut it in a tough job during their probationary period, when the bar for termination is low. But some, we’ve found, lost jobs for misconduct, including drunk driving, writing misleading reports and using sexist and racist language.
In Wisconsin, law enforcement agencies can report to the state DOJ when they fire or force out an officer, so we can track when that cop goes on to get hired by another policing agency. But we are currently unable to track these wandering officers who have been fired or forced out in other states and come to work here because we don’t have a list of all law enforcement officers here.
Peter Cameron
That’s why The Badger Project, along with our partners at the Invisible Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit journalism organization, requested the full list of names and work histories from the Wisconsin Department of Justice and sued when it refused.
In April, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Rhonda Lanford ruled in our favor and ordered the DOJ to release the records. She cited a previous state appeals court ruling that said law enforcement officers “necessarily relinquish certain privacy and reputational rights by virtue of the amount of trust society places in them and must be subject to public scrutiny.”
Prominent members of Wisconsin’s law enforcement community have criticized the judge’s ruling, saying it goes too far. An appeal could be coming.
Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, wrote an op-ed saying the release of these records could put officers at “risk of harassment, doxxing and worse.” He said officers’ birthdates are part of the records whose release we are seeking. Not so: While our initial records request asked for birthdates or birth years (to distinguish between officers with the same name), our lawsuit only asked for birth years, not months and days.
The state DOJ raised another objection, saying release of the names would jeopardize undercover officers. But what cop uses his or her real name when working undercover? We did not request photos of the officers.
I salute and thank the men and women in law enforcement who are serving their communities. I don’t envy the chiefs and sheriffs who must staff their agencies at a time when finding good job applicants for law enforcement jobs is as hard as ever.
And you know what? We at The Badger Project are not against second chances for cops who screwed up. Perhaps an officer who made a fireable mistake has learned from it. Whether that officer should continue in law enforcement is not for us to decide. Our job, as journalists, is to shine a light on those in power and get facts to the public who are being policed by these folks.
If chiefs or sheriffs want to hire an officer with problems in the past, they should say so publicly and defend their decision. They just can’t make these decisions in secret.
Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dedicated to open government. Peter Cameron is managing editor of The Badger Project, a nonprofit news outlet.
A fight between two students on a Baldwin-Whitehall School District school bus near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania sent a sixth grader to the hospital and led to a simple assault charge against an eighth-grade student, according to police and the victim’s family, reported WPXI News.
The incident reportedly happened when students from Harrison Middle School were riding home from school. Video recorded by other students captured part of the altercation.
Jason Scanlon told local news reporters that his son, Jacen, had been dealing with alleged bullying for months before the fight escalated. “It became a group thing, making my son extremely uncomfortable until it became something physical, which I knew was coming,” Scanlon said. “The school was warned it was coming multiple times.”
Fight on the School Bus
According to the news report, the fight began after his son argued with a younger girl, who is related to the eighth grader accused in the attack, at school. “It was a Tuesday, he went to school, apparently got into a little bit of an argument with this younger girl who ended up being the sister of the child who attacked him,” Scanlon said via the article.
Whitehall police reportedly said the older student, who was wearing a cast, punched Jacen during the fight. “He’s wearing a cast and the first punch he throws is at my son’s nose with a cast,” Scanlon told reporters.
The bus driver stopped the bus and called 911. Police and emergency crews responded, and Jacen was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital. His injuries included a broken nose and a mild concussion, according to his father.
Whitehall police filed a simple assault charge against the eighth-grade student. Scanlon said he repeatedly contacted school administrators before the incident. “Emails, meetings, phone calls, multiple times. I went to [them] for help,” he said of prior attempts to report the alleged bullying.
Baldwin-Whitehall Superintendent Dr. Randal Lutz said via the article that the situation involved “two students who chose to engage in a fight” and noted both students had opportunities to de-escalate. Jacen received a three-day suspension. District officials said the eighth-grade student also faced disciplinary action, though they did not disclose specific consequences. Both students have since returned to class.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2026. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — A multibillion-dollar package to fund immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term faced new delays Thursday as Senate Republicans showed a rare split with the president over his new “anti-weaponization” fund.
The administration dispatched Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Republicans as many fought to add restrictions to Trump’s $1.776 billion fund as a condition for passing a proposed $72 billion for the departments of Homeland Security and Justice.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the hourslong closed-door meeting with Blanche included “spirited discussion.”
The Department of Justice announced Monday the fund for “victims of lawfare” in exchange for Trump dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. Both agencies are under his purview.
“It’s unprecedented to see a settlement between two parties that seem to be the same person,” Paul said.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche walks by reporters at the U.S. Capitol on May 21, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
Ultimately, senators left their meeting with Blanche with no immediate path forward for the budget reconciliation bill that requires a simple majority to pass. Senate Majority Leader John Thune can only afford to lose a handful of votes in the GOP-led Senate that is split 53-47, as all Democrats vow to oppose the package.
“We’re going home,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said as he made flight arrangements with his staff while standing outside the meeting room.
Thune told reporters “we will pick up where we left off.”
Asked whether he thinks a resolution can be reached, the South Dakota Republican said “that’s what I’m counting on.”
The Senate has adjourned except for pro forma sessions until the afternoon of June 1, the date Trump set to have the finished bill on his desk.
Among the sticking points in the Blanche meeting: whether Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot defendants who assaulted police officers would qualify for the financial relief.
“I did raise that issue,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “But we haven’t seen (bill) language yet.”
The administration maintains the fund will be nonpartisan, and not only open to Trump supporters. A five-seat commission — four to be appointed by Blanche and the fifth in consultation with Congress — will issue decisions on financial claims.
Further details emerged Tuesday from the Department of Justice, revealing that Trump and his family will be forever immune from tax audits as part of the settlement.
Ballroom battle
Before debate erupted over Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund, Republicans had already fractured over a $1 billion Secret Service security earmark in the bill, $220 million of which was set to be used to “harden” Trump’s White House ballroom project.
The funds for the “East Wing Modernization Project” would have paid for bulletproof glass, drone detection technologies and filtration systems designed to detect chemical or other contaminants.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who lost his primary Saturday after Trump supported another candidate, told reporters he would not vote for ballroom funds.
Democrats claimed credit for getting the $1 billion tossed from the bill after challenging whether the provision fit within the strict parameters of reconciliation. Ultimately, the Senate parliamentarian ruled it out, sparking a social media attack from Trump Tuesday.
Trump told reporters Thursday if Senate Republicans didn’t find a way to pass the extra security money, “Then the White House won’t be a very secure place.”
Senate Dems vow to stop ‘slush fund’
Democrats pounced on the opportunity to spotlight the Republican division.
“This afternoon, Republicans — so divided, so dysfunctional, so disorganized — are fleeing Washington,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters at a press conference after movement on the package stalled.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks at a press conference with other Democrats about Republicans’ immigration enforcement bill. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
“Republicans are divided over things that Americans don’t want, but Democrats are united around things that the people do want — for us to lower their costs, rein in the chaos, fight the corruption that is endemic to this administration,” the New York Democrat added.
Schumer added that “we’ll do everything we can to stop this slush fund, whether it’s in the courts, whether it’s legislative, whether it’s through reconciliation, or any other legislative means.”
Senate Democrats still plan to offer up a handful of painful amendments for GOP senators to vote on during a marathon voting session when and if the bill finally reaches the floor.
War powers vote postponed
On the other side of the Capitol, House Republicans abruptly delayed an Iran War Powers Resolution vote moments before it was scheduled to open on the floor.
This would have been the fourth time Democrats brought the privileged motion to the floor. The 1970s-era War Powers Resolution sets reporting procedures and limitations on a president’s military campaigns abroad.
An effort to curtail Trump’s campaign in Iran failed in a tied House vote just one week ago.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., shouted on the floor as the presiding officer moved procedures forward, skipping the War Powers Resolution.
“Are we not voting on it because the American people are sick and tired of this illegal war that’s costing tens of billions of dollars? Gas prices are through the roof. People can’t afford their groceries,” McGovern said, alleging the Republicans lacked the “guts” to vote on it.
The House now also leaves for the Memorial Day break and will not return until June 1.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Michigan man already free on bond in a separate assault case is accused of stealing a decommissioned school bus, crashing it into a tree and ditch, and fleeing on foot, reported Mlive News.
Andre Weston, 21, of Carrollton Township, was charged May 11 with unlawfully driving a motor vehicle, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Police said Weston left the adult foster care facility where he lives around 8 p.m. May 8 without authorization. Staff at the facility in the 800 block of Piper Drive reported him missing about 90 minutes later.
As officers headed to the facility, a call came in around 9:45 p.m. from a homeowner on Lincoln Street reporting that a school bus had become stuck in his front yard.
The homeowner reportedly told police he noticed the stolen school bus driving down the residential street late at night and thought it seemed unusual. The bus later began backing down the road before veering into the yard, striking a tree and becoming lodged in a ditch.
The driver then exited through the back door and ran toward Mapleridge Road. Officers later found Weston near Carrollton High School, about a half-mile from the crash site.
Alleged Stolen Bus Taken from Contractor
After being advised of his rights, Weston admitted to stealing the bus from the high school parking lot, police said via the news report. The stolen school bus had been decommissioned and recently purchased from the school district by contractor Dean Transportation. Investigators said the vehicle had been left unsecured with the keys inside.
A tow truck was required to remove the bus from the ditch, and police are reportedly reviewing surveillance footage to determine exactly when the bus was taken. Weston was arraigned Monday in Saginaw County District Court before Judge M. Randall Jurrens.
At the time of the incident, Weston was free on bond in a separate case filed in March charging him with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors allege he assaulted two female staff members at the foster care facility where he lives. A preliminary examination on the new charge is scheduled for May 26.
This article was produced by the nonprofit journalism publication Bolts, which covers the nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office will stop using dozens of AI surveillance cameras posted up across Madison and surrounding towns, after the county Board of Supervisors pulled funding from a contract with Flock Safety, the latest setback in this state for the Atlanta-based tech company.
Flock has swiftly grown a sprawling, nationwide network of cameras that photograph passing cars and use AI to track their movements with precision, with thousands of law enforcement agencies installing Flock cameras in exchange for access to the company’s database. But many local governments are nowbreakingoff their agreements with Flock after numerous instances where the cameras were misused and breached, or where the data they collected ended up in ICE’s hands.
Within Dane County, the cascade started when the city of Verona pulled its three automated license plate readers from the Flock network in November, after police officers elsewhere in the country accessed Verona’s cameras on behalf of immigration agents. Bolts previously reported that Flock ignored demands by Verona officials to take down the cameras for months after they ended the contract, and the city eventually covered the surveillance cameras with black plastic bags to protect residents’ privacy. Verona Mayor Luke Diaz told Bolts at the time that the county government’s contract with Flock was “the next big domino” to fall in Wisconsin.
Verona’s representative on the Dane County Board, Supervisor Chad Kemp, then proposed defunding the sheriff’s agreement with Flock, and the board voted 32-1 in April to strip $80,000 from the budget allocated to paying for the cameras. Sheriff Kalvin Barrett’s office confirmed to Bolts via email on April 30 that he will abide by the board’s wishes and cease using Flock.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett contracted with the tech surveillance company Flock Safety without the approval of the county board. His office says it’s considering alternatives to Flock after the county board pulled funding. He is shown at the Wisconsin State Capitol during a May 21, 2021, meeting of the Speaker’s Task Force on Racial Disparities Subcommittee on Law Enforcement Policies and Standards. (Will Cioci / Wisconsin Watch)
Other Wisconsin cities have dropped their Flock contracts since Dane County’s vote, including Monona, a suburb of Madison, and Oshkosh, in Winnebago County, where the police chief not just ended the contract but also covered cameras in plastic bags after Flock allegedly misrepresented how its data was used.
Diaz is heartened by this ongoing domino effect that’s rocking Wisconsin. “If police chiefs are bailing on it, that really shows momentum,” he saidin a follow-up interview this month. “I feel like, at least politically, it is a sign that we’re winning.”
“It really shows that local activists can make a really big difference,” he said. “Small communities can be laboratories of democracy, and we can stand up to be an example for other communities.”
Now privacy activists are pushing to remove Wisconsin’s remaining Flock cameras, including those operated by the Milwaukee Police Department and by the University of Wisconsin-Madison police.
But beyond targeting any specific Flock contract, they’re also pressuring local officials across the state to set proactive guardrails around AI surveillance technologies.
They hope to stop law enforcement agencies from responding to their wins against Flock by just turning to Flock’s competitors to install similar systems of automated license plate readers (ALPRs).
A spokesperson for the Dane County Sheriff’s Office told Bolts that the office is already exploring other vendors to replace Flock.
Law enforcement agencies often deploy invasive technologies like ALPRs without notifying the people being spied on and without approval from elected officials, said Jon McCray-Jones, a policy analyst with the ACLU of Wisconsin. He warns that, without robust protections limiting what police can do, residents will be “playing a game of Whack-A-Mole with surveillance companies” as police seek lesser-known companies like Motorola.
“We’re starting to miss the forest for the trees, where the conversation has been about how bad Flock is,” McCray-Jones told Bolts. “Sure, the headline changes with a slightly better company. But the innate issues around ALPRs don’t. You still have similar cameras, similar databases, similar mass, warrantless tracking. You just have a different logo on the contract.”
The Dane County sheriff was able to install the Flock system initially without getting approval from the board since it was paid for by a $68,750 grant funded by a separate surveillance company, Axon Enterprise. Axon used to have a partnership with Flock but has since severed it. The sheriff’s spokesperson ruled out seeking outside funding again.
Jade, a Madison resident and privacy advocate who created Deflock Dane, a project that maps the cameras that watch over the area, warns that a new technology could just as easily be installed to replace the Flock cameras without any public input. (Jade agreed to talk using only their first name for privacy concerns.)
“Some regulation has to be put in place,” Jade said. “Reacting to whatever secretive contract is signed in the future might work, but it is not ideal to have a revolving door of surveillance companies.”
A Flock Safety camera is aimed toward traffic traveling near a gas station, April 15, 2026, in Stoughton, Wis. (Angela Major / WPR)
In the absence of state restrictions, the ACLU of Wisconsin is advocating for local governments to adopt ordinances that give elected officials oversight over police surveillance. A model policy endorsed by the ACLU called Community Control Over Police Surveillance, or CCOPS, would require law enforcement to get approval from a city council or county commission before using new surveillance tools, as well as develop use policies and provide annual reports on them.
According to the ACLU, 26 jurisdictions nationwide already have a CCOPS ordinance in place, but the city of Madison is the only one in Wisconsin. (Madison police currently have no ALPR contract.) Dane County has no such ordinance, which gives the sheriff a lot more discretion.
Supporters say CCOPS ordinances allow cities to better vet the vendors that are hired, while also allowing residents to weigh in on what level of surveillance and risk they are willing to accept before the technology is used on them. McCray-Jones says elected officials can make informed decisions “instead of having to look into these technologies on their own and after the fact, in the aftermath when the damage is already done.”
But efforts to curtail AI surveillance in this way are hitting a wall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s most populous city, which became a cautionary tale for Flock when a police officer repeatedly used the cameras to stalk a romantic partner. The police chief quickly revoked most officers’ access but the city is continuing to use Flock cameras at this time.
In March, four members of the common council wrote a letter calling on the city to adopt a CCOPS policy. They also demanded other checks on surveillance, such as a requirement for officers to list a case number to justify searching the network, routine civilian hearings and independent audits, and a ban on ALPRs being used for immigration.
Even as they push for stronger oversight, though, a 2023 state law known as Act 12 has sharply limited Milwaukee’s ability to regulate police surveillance.
Though primarily a tax bill aimed at stabilizing pension debts, Act 12 forced Milwaukee to abandon civilian oversight in exchange for the funds. It stripped the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission of its oversight authority, gave the police chief broad control over department policy and restricted the city council’s ability to set new rules.
Until then, the commission had offered a relatively strong model of civilian control, like when it banned officers from using chokeholds and no-knock warrants, putting it in the crosshairs of the local police union. Act 12 made it into a “rubber stamp” for the police.
Attendees protest facial recognition technology during the Feb. 5, 2026, meeting of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. (Devin Blake / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
Several council members told Bolts that Act 12 also interferes with their ability to forbid the Milwaukee Police Department from using Flock cameras, enact a CCOPS policy or set standards for how the city uses surveillance technology.
“We cannot propose that law here,” said Ald. Alex Brower, who cosigned the letter endorsing CCOPS. “It was extremely frustrating to find that out. There is less democratic control than there should be.”
Another council member who signed the letter, Sharlen Moore, echoed Brower’s concern, saying, “We do not have a lot of power and say-so around how they spend their budget.”
Moore and Brower are hopeful that the state could eventually restore some level of outside control over Milwaukee police; voters this fall are electing a new governor and Legislature, and Democrats hope to win control of the state government for the first time since 2010. But until the state takes action, the council members say they’ll have to rely on the police to voluntarily restrict their use of surveillance.
Brower told Bolts, “The police chief would not have banned facial recognition technology on his own if it hadn’t been for the groundswell of regular people.”
Now he hopes for a similar public outcry against ALPRs and other AI surveillance. Echoing the Madison-based advocates who say they’ll keep fighting contracts in Dane County, he said, “We need an active and engaged and organized population that is fighting for their liberties.”
Residents can anonymously report unsafe riding activity to Parker Police.
Police say electric motorcycles follow the same laws as regular motorcycles.
The system is meant to target illegal riding on streets, trails, and parks.
Police departments across the U.S. are struggling to figure out what to do with the explosion of electric motorcycles, Sur-Rons, dirt bikes, and high-powered e-bikes flooding suburban streets and trails. Now, one Colorado town is taking a new approach. It’s asking residents to report riders directly to police through an anonymous online portal.
The Parker Police Department in south Denver recently launched its “E-Bike, Dirt Bike, & E-Motorcycle Safety Reporting” tool, allowing residents to submit locations, rider descriptions, and details about allegedly unsafe behavior. The form includes options like “stunt riding,” “unsafe lane changes,” “running stop signs,” and even “no dangerous actions/just riding.”
Importantly, police are making the important distinction between genuine e-bikes, the ones made for commuting, trail use, and recreation, and electric motorcycles that are often nearly inoperable with the pedals alone. According to the department, many riders are allegedly operating without licenses, insurance, or registration while also damaging parks, trails, and private property. States nationwide have seen an uptick in illegal electric motorcycle use and abuse.
Parker Police also pointed to a recent California case where a mother was charged with involuntary manslaughter after her 14-year-old son allegedly struck and killed an 81-year-old man while riding an electric motorcycle. Officials say the incident highlights the potential dangers associated with improperly used high-powered electric bikes.
That all said, the new system effectively creates a crowdsourced enforcement network where residents can anonymously report riders without any direct interaction with law enforcement. While supporters will likely argue it improves public safety, critics may see it as another example of expanding surveillance culture creeping into everyday transportation.
One local tells Carscoops, “This isn’t an e-bike or e-motorcycle issue. It’s a person issue. If kids are running from the police, it’s a parenting issue. Either way, it’s about the person riding and not the mode of transportation.”
Whether Parker’s new reporting system becomes a model for other cities or a flashpoint in the growing debate over surveillance and micromobility remains to be seen. What’s clear is that towns and police departments are rapidly losing patience with high-powered electric motorcycles operating in legally gray areas, especially as crashes, complaints, and viral social media videos continue piling up.
Kia has built a police version of the electric PV5 for South Korean officers.
A roof-mounted drone launches automatically when the van reaches a scene.
Thermal imaging and a 90x zoom camera handle aerial suspect tracking.
The humble delivery van has come a long way. Kia’s PV5, until recently best known as a versatile electric workhorse, has been seconded into law enforcement. The company has signed on with the Korean National Police Agency to build a high-tech, AI-equipped patrol vehicle that also happens to carry a drone.
Visually, the PV5 already looks the part with its futuristic LEDs and sleek surfacing. For its new role, it wears a police livery with blue and yellow graphics over its black and white bodywork. The biggest party trick, though, is the roof extension housing an integrated drone station.
When the PV5 pulls up to a scene, a section of the roof opens and an automated AI police drone takes flight. It handles aerial patrol in tight alleys and hazardous areas, the sort of places where the van itself, and indeed the officers, cannot or should not go.
The drone carries thermal imaging and a 90x zoom camera, useful kit for tracking suspects or finding missing persons. Once the job is done, it flies back to its dock and recharges using the van’s V2L system. As for the PV5 itself, no changes have been reported to the battery or electric powertrain.
The roof structure also carries three AI-powered cameras providing 360-degree coverage with no blind spots. The software is clever enough to identify suspects by clothing or accessories, working through a crowd in real time and flagging up potential matches.
The AI can also detect specific threats like weapon-carrying individuals or injured citizens who may have fallen on the ground. It even includes crowd density monitoring to alert authorities for potential overcapacity risks in public spaces.
The police-prepped Kia PV5 is scheduled to begin pilot operations in June 2026. It will be part of the Metropolitan Preventive Patrol Unit of the South Korean police force, focused on crime prevention and rapid response.
While this particular AI patrol vehicle is exclusive to Korea, it will be interesting to see whether the PV5 will serve as a base for police conversions in other parts of the world.
A former New York school bus and Uber driver will serve 16 years in prison for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl over the course of nearly a year.
Miguel Enrique Diaz, 49, admitted in court that he repeatedly abused the 12–year-old child between December 2022 and October 2023, both inside his personal vehicle and at his home. At the time of the offenses, Diaz was working as both an Uber driver and a school bus driver at the Bay Shore School District.
Hewas sentenced April 24 to 16 years behind bars followed by 15 years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a Class B violent felony, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney.
“This sentence is substantial, but it pales in comparison to the potential lifelong trauma the victim will endure,” Tierney said in a statement. “We hope the strength this young survivor showed in coming forward is the first step in her healing and encourages others to speak out.”
Mother’s Report Led to Investigation of School Bus Driver
The abuse came to light in March 2024, when the victim disclosed the incidents to her mother, who then contacted law enforcement. Following an investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Section, Diaz was arrested that same year.
Authorities said the investigation included interviews, evidence collection and coordination with prosecutors from the district attorney’s Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau.
Diaz pleaded guilty March 17. He is expected to serve his sentence in a New York state correctional facility and will also register as a sex offender upon his release.
Officials did not disclose how the former school bus driver encountered the victim but emphasized that the case highlights the importance of vigilance when it comes to individuals in positions of trust, particularly those who work with or around children.
The New York State Police recognized three individuals for their swift and life-saving actions during a medical emergency involving a school bus driver earlier this year in Oneida County.
The state police said the emergency unfolded Jan. 5 in the Town of Verona at approximately 12:25 p.m., as a school bus traveled along State Route 365 near the intersection with State Route 31. During the route, the unidentified school bus operator xperienced a severe medical event, creating a dangerous situation for passengers onboard and other motorists.
Dina Johnson, an employee of First Student who was on the bus at the time of the incident, along with bus aide Kately Vasquez and passing motorist Stephen Dillon, were formally honored for their roles in responding to the incident.
Authorities said Johnson acted immediately, taking control of the moving bus and safely bringing it to a stop. Her actions prevented the vehicle from continuing uncontrolled and helped ensure the safety of those on board.
At the same time Vasquez, worked to assess the condition of the incapacitated driver and began coordinating an emergency response. Recognizing the urgency, Johnson flagged down Dillon, who was driving by and stopped to assist.
Dillon and Vasquez then worked together to perform life-saving measures on the bus driver while awaiting first responders. Johnson contacted 911 and remained actively involved in managing the situation until emergency medical personnel arrived and took over care.
State police said the coordinated efforts of Dillon, Vasquez and Johnson were critical in stabilizing the situation and preventing further harm.
Life-saving Trio Recognized for Rapid Response
In recognition of their life-saving actions, the trio were honored by Major Marc A. Barbera, commander of Troop D, along with Capt. Paul T. Kuropatwinski and Lt. Scott T. Kedenburg. Officials said their response demonstrated teamwork, composure, and a strong commitment to public safety.
While authorities did not release an update on the bus driver’s condition, they emphasized that the rapid response by those on scene played a key role in addressing the emergency.
Incidents involving medical emergencies behind the wheel can quickly escalate, particularly when they involve vehicles transporting students. State police noted that the actions taken by Dillon, Vasquez and Johnson highlight the importance of preparedness and quick decision-making in high-pressure situations.
State police said the recognition was intended to honor the individuals’ actions and to emphasize the importance of cooperation and awareness during emergencies. The ceremony concluded with commendations presented to Johnson, Vasquez, and Dillon, recognizing their efforts to protect others during a moment of crisis.
Police in central Oregon arrested a school bus driver on suspicion of driving under the influence for a blood-alcohol concentration four times the legal limit for a commercial driver.
The school driver, identified as 67-year-old Martha Ann Gerlicher, reportedly completed one route for Bend La-Pine Schools April 3 and was preparing to begin another when a school district employee observed the alleged impairment.
According to a statement released by the City of Bend Police Department, the Bend-La Pine Schools transportation employee called authorities after suspecting Gerlicher was intoxicated. Earlier, Gerlicher had contacted the transportation office to report brake problems on her bus after finishing a route for Pine Ridge Elementary School. She was at High Desert Middle School to begin another route when the other transportation employee arrived around 3:15 p.m.
The employee reportedly found no mechanical issues with the bus but detected signs Gerlicher might be under the influence. Gerlicher was removed from the vehicle and taken to a private testing facility, where she reportedly showed high levels of alcohol.
Blood-Alcohol Testing Indicate Impairment
Police were then contacted and took Gerlicher into custody. Later testing administered at the Bend Police Department around 11 p.m., roughly seven hours after the alleged drunk driving and initial screening, indicated a bloodalcohol concentration of 0.16 percent. The legal limit for all commercial driver’s license holders nationwide is 0.04 percent, half of the 0.08 legal limit for other motorists in Oregon.
Gerlicher was booked into the Deschutes County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless endangerment. As of April 7, court records indicated no formal charges had been filed. No students were reportedly harmed during the alleged drunk driving incident.
In a statement to local news reporters, Bend-La Pine School District said that student safety remains its top priority and confirmed that Gerlicher was placed on leave pending further action.
A man was arrested over the weekend after authorities say he stole a school bus from a high school parking lot and later abandoned it at a nearby store, reported ABC 13.
According to the news report, officers responded Saturday afternoon to a Dollar General near Glasgow High School after school officials reported that the stolen bus had been located. The vehicle showed visible scratches on the rear-passenger side and front that appeared to be recent.
Glasgow Independent Schools Superintendent Chad Muhlenkamp said GPS data indicated the bus was started at approximately 4:34 a.m., left school property and traveled along Coral Hill Road before making a stop. The bus was later parked at the Dollar General around 5:27 a.m.
Security camera footage identified the suspect as 18-year-old Tayesean M. Barlow. The footage reportedly showed Barlow entering the bus with a flashlight and appearing to have what looked like a drum magazine attached to a handgun in his waistband. He was later seen sitting in the driver’s seat, starting the bus and driving away. Police said he briefly stopped to speak with someone out of view before continuing and eventually parking the bus.
According to the article, officers later went to Barlow’s home on Coral Hill Road, where his mother told them she was aware of the situation and had instructed her son to return the stolen bus. Barlow then came outside and was taken into custody.
While being held at the Barren County Detention Center, Barlow reportedly told police he had been with friends at a local apartment complex and decided to leave after “things got a little crazy.” He said he entered the bus after finding it unlocked, located the keys and drove it home because he did not want to walk.
Barlow remains jailed on a $25,000 cash bond. He faces charges including theft by unlawful taking, second-degree criminal mischief, unlawful possession of a weapon on school property, and operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked license.
A school bus driver in southeastern Massachusetts is under investigation after authorities say he allegedly urinated inside a bus while transporting young students to an elementary school.
The incident occurred March 30, as the bus was on route to Hoyle Elementary School, according to a news release from the Swansea Police Department.
Police said preliminary findings indicate that the 71-year-old driver pulled the bus over during the route and instructed students to move to the back. He then allegedly remained in the driver’s seat and relieved himself inside the vehicle while the children were still on board.
After the incident, the driver completed the route and dropped off the students at the school, authorities said. The situation came to light when some of the children reported what had happened to school staff, prompting an investigation by school officials and police.
“This type of behavior in the presence of children, especially young children, is unacceptable,” a statement reads.
Authorities said there were 12 children on the bus at the time, ranging from pre-kindergarten to second grade. Police noted that investigators currently believe none of the students directly witnessed the act itself.
School officials notified the parents of all children who were on the bus. The driver, who has not been publicly identified, is no longer permitted to operate within the Swansea Public Schools system. Police said the school district informed Amaral Bus Company, the transportation provider for the district, that the driver has been removed from service.
In addition, Swansea Public Schools is reviewing its relationship with the company and considering measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
As of Monday afternoon, no criminal charges had been filed against the driver. Detectives are continuing to investigate the allegations.
School officials have also filed a report with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families in accordance with standard procedures. Officials emphasized the seriousness of the matter and said the investigation remains ongoing.
MERIDIAN, Idaho – Durham School Services had the special opportunity to provide two school buses to support the Meridian and Garden City Police Department’s Bus Hostage Rescue training for their Special Tactics Group. The training involved learning about the configuration of school buses and identifying challenges that may occur during vehicle-based and confined-space emergency scenarios. The training also helped the group to fine-tune their training strategies to better ensure the safety of students and staff when emergency situations occur.
For the training, Durham provided two types of buses – a regular, standard sized bus and minibus/van. A Durham trainer was also on-site to offer insight into the operation, structure, and different components of the bus, as well as to answer questions. The training lasted approximately four hours and was a successful, productive session that resulted in valuable knowledge and key takeaways for the tactics group team members.
“It’s collaborations like these with our community partners such as Durham School Services that allow us and our team to provide the highest quality of service possible to the community,” said Sergeant Justin Rogers, Meridian and Garden City Police Department. “By being provided a realistic training environment and knowledgeable school bus professionals to answer questions, we are able to elevate our training and thus are better prepared to respond to these types of critical incidents. We are thankful for the opportunity and look forward to continuing these partnerships in the future.”
Durham began serving the Meridian community in 2024. As part of its Partners Beyond the Bus community outreach program, the team has supported Meridian and its community members through various events such as providing transportation for the Special Olympics Athletes’ Winter Regional Games and participating in and becoming a sponsor for the West Ada Education Foundation’s 36th Annual Linking Up FORE Kids Golf Tournament.
“As a Partner Beyond the Bus, when instances arise to lend support to community partners, we are more than happy to participate and help in any way we can,” said Eric Fedorco, Meridian General Manager, Durham School Services. “When the Meridian Police Department reached out for assistance with their training, there was no hesitation in my mind, especially since it was related to safety. My team and I have a strong sense of duty when it comes to the safety of our students and community, so we are glad to have played a vital role in enhancing safety measures that will protect their wellbeing when the least expected happens. It was a meaningful opportunity to safeguard our community, and we would be honored to assist again in the future.”
About Durham School Services: As an industry-leading student transportation provider, Durham School Services and its sister brands, Stock Transportation and Petermann Bus, are dedicated to the safety of our students and People. Collectively, for more than 100 years, we have been committed to Excellence and upholding our mission of getting students to school safely, on time, and ready to learn. Through this mission and a grassroots approach to our operations, Durham School Services and its sister brands have earned recognition as a trusted transportation provider among our Customers and the Communities they serve.
Police arrested a suburban Denver school bus driver on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child.
Officers for the Lakewood Police Department were notified March 11 of a possible assault involving a 10-year-old student and the child’s school bus driver, identified as 64-year-old Robert Charles Watters, according to authorities.
A child reported that the Jefferson County Public Schools driver had engaged in what investigators described as an “inappropriate relationship,” prompting an immediate investigation.
Watters turned himself in March 12 and was taken into custody. He was arrested and faces charges on suspicion of sexual assault on a child involving a pattern of abuse and a position of trust, police said.
The allegations stem from what police called an inappropriate relationship. No further details were provided.
“As part of this investigation, detectives are asking anyone who may have information or believes they may have been a victim or witness to come forward,” police said in a March 13 statement posted to Facebook, urging the public to contact the Lakewood Police tip line.
Watters remained in custody at the Jefferson County jail as of March 13, authorities said.
According to police, Watters has worked as a school bus driver for Jefferson County Public Schools near Denver since 2018. He drove Hutchinson Elementary School students on the C-49 route from 2021 to 2023 and had been assigned to the C-31 route since August 2023.
Officials emphasized that the charges are allegations and that Watters is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Police continue to investigate and are asking anyone with information related to the case to contact authorities. The investigation remains ongoing.
A North Carolina man was arrested after authorities say he exposed himself at a neighborhood school bus stop, where children and families were gathered, reported Fox 8.
Police arrested Angel Esteban Marte, 24, March 5 and charged with felony indecent exposure after the incident in Harnett County.
Deputies said Marte exposed his private parts at the bus stop, and investigators said the act was committed “for the purpose of arousing and gratifying the defendant’s sexual desire.”
Marte also faces a misdemeanor indecent exposure charge in connection with the incident.
The exact location of the bus stop was not specified. The offense is listed as a violent crime on a condition of release order.
According to the article, Marte was being held without bond at the Harnett County Jail. He was scheduled to make his first court appearance.
A 38-year-old man already facing charges in a separate case is accused of pointing what appeared to be a long gun at a school bus transporting nine children in southern Minnesota, reported Fox 9.
According to the news report, police charged Alex Jeffrey Wolters with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and threats of violence following the March 5 incident in Faribault.
Police said officers received a report around 7:40 a.m. from a school bus aide who claimed they saw a man brandishing a gun. Investigators later identified the man as Wolters.
Law enforcement officials reviewed video from the school bus that showed the aide reacting after spotting the object. The bus was transporting nine children at the time of the incident. Authorities arrested Wolters several hours later.
During a post-Miranda interview, Wolters denied pointing anything at the bus but acknowledged he had been in his home garage that morning. He told police he had been working on an insulation project and went into the garage to retrieve an item. Officers later found a copper tube and black plastic tubing in the home’s attic that, when combined, resembled a long gun.
Police also spoke with Wolters’ father, who allowed investigators to inspect two-gun safes inside the home. Authorities said one safe appeared to have been tampered with since the father said he last used it. Another safe appeared partially opened but remained locked.
The complaint states the tampered safe contained several rifles, shotguns and a pistol, while the other safe held two pellet rifles.
Court records indicate Wolters was already on pretrial supervision in a separate 2025 case involving threats of violence. He allegedly threatened to “murder everyone” in a local apartment building, saying he would go to a police station and “kill the police.”
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