Booting Up: Storage costs cloud police cam issue

Police body cameras are controversial, in demand — and a monumental technological undertaking that should be left to cloud computing experts.

Pressure on police departments to deploy body cameras is boiling over as outrage intensifies over the deadly police shooting in South Carolina in which a North Charleston officer shot and killed an unarmed black man as he ran away earlier this month. A video of the April 4 shooting was filmed by a bystander showing a far different version of events than cops officially reported, renewing calls for video as a requirement.

In contrast, the move by Boston police and prosecutors to release security video of a gunfight that left a police officer wounded and the suspect dead has been widely praised — and renewed calls for body cams here.

Only in recent years has cloud computing made it feasible to start thinking about saving and maintaining the deluge of video data from police-worn cameras. Cloud computing allows anyone to store reams of data on far-flung servers managed by companies like Amazon and Microsoft.

Because most cloud storage platforms don't meet the FBI's security policy standards, many departments have forgone the cloud thus far. But the drawbacks of local storage are numerous, requiring police departments to hire IT personnel for maintenance and security.

Police departments thinking of investing in body cameras should expect to encounter cyberattacks. Locally stored police data is already a huge target of hackers, with departments regularly fending off malicious cyberattacks.

By contrast, cloud computing centers are incredibly secure — in fact they're arguably some of the most secure facilities on the planet, with their locations often kept secret. Armed guards and retinal scans are the norm.

Storing that data is more expensive than purchasing the actual cameras. According to the Police Executive Research Foundation, the cost of data storage can reach $2 million per year for a department. A typical urban police department should expect data from its body-worn cameras to accumulate several terabytes of data per month. Oakland police, with 600 body cameras, report that their servers are crammed with a whopping seven terabytes of data per month. Think of that as about 1,500 feature-length films.

In Fort Collins, Colo., for example, cops discard footage after seven days if there is no citizen contact. Other departments keep everything. In Albuquerque, non-evidentiary video is retained for a year. In Oakland, that data is stored for five years.

Microsoft recently piloted the first FBI-compatible data storage program for police video, a program using its Azure cloud storage system with VIEVU, a Seattle-based maker of wearable police cameras, likely opening the door for many police departments to start storing data in the cloud. As a result, police departments should be able to keep and manage data longer and for a lower cost, putting to rest arguments that cop body cameras are too financially burdensome and not feasible for small departments. Storing all that data is only going to get easier.

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Hospitals eye models to address disasters

Crisis plans that can take hospitals months to develop could be produced in seconds with the right mathematical modeling — cutting out much of the painstaking human analysis — according to Boston professors who hope to incorporate these algorithms into local protocol.

"What these models enable you to do is figure out a complex situation with a lot of interacting factors. The tools help you make the best decision," said Ozlem Ergun, an associate professor in Northeastern's Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department. "Boston is a very specific place, where almost all the big hospitals are research hospitals, so it could really benefit from this kind of thing."

According to Ergun, these systems can determine the most efficient way for hospitals to respond to incidents such as outbreaks of disease, natural disasters or tragedies like the Boston Marathon bombings, which cause an influx of patients concentrated in one area.

"If you're in a situation where many people need access to hospitals, there could be several issues — problems with transportation, congestion due to the number of people, access limitations for security reasons," she said. "There needs to be a plan for things like how to use certain EMS vehicles and where patients should be directed based on their needs."

Ergun, who is reaching out to local hospitals to team up on preparedness efforts, came to Northeastern from the Georgia Institute of Technology in September, and has worked on issues surrounding humanitarian crisis response for organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Jarrod Goentzel, founder and director of the MIT Humanitarian Response Lab, has been using these methods to help West Africa cope with the Ebola outbreak, and said the same approach could be used in Boston to create a central point among its cluster of large hospitals to house supplies needed in crisis situations.

"We have lots of hospitals here. In a panic mode, everyone is trying to procure supplies," he said. "Basic human nature is to hoard and hoard and be prepared. But the more centrally you stock things, the more risk that can cover."

Paul Biddinger, chief of emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Hospital, said each local hospital conducts a yearly analysis using tools like FEMA flood maps, but that potential coordination among hospitals is not analyzed.

He added that predicting the frequency and severity of pandemics is tricky, and any resources that could shed light on those events "would be of use."

"Anything that will more accurately predict stressors on the system will help us know how to deal with those stressors," he said.

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Inspector Gadget: MacBook a bit pricy, but lightweight and a beauty

MacBook ($1,299 and up, 
AppleStore.com)

The latest iteration of Apple's full-size notebook computer weighs in at two pounds, is 13.1 mm thin, and has a 12-inch so-called Retina display with edge-to-edge glass.

The good: If you like Apple design, you'll love this MacBook. Available in gold, silver or space gray, it's also got a great new trackpad and a wider keyboard.

The bad: Apple's new MacBook has just one USB port. So if you plan to connect a lot of devices to your laptop, this might not be for you.

The bottom line: If you're OK with just one USB port, this gorgeous Mac's for you.

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What could be causing 2004 Durango’s starting issues?

Q: My 2004 Dodge Durango with 170,000 miles has recently developed starting problems. It will start up in one of three ways: 1. Start fine. 2. Start with a knock and go right to idle rpm. 3. Start with a knock and stall. I then have to crank the motor for 5-10 seconds before the motor slowly starts and goes right to idle rpm. I have no dashboard warning lights, the battery is OK and the engine runs fine with no detectable power loss or knocking. My mechanic looked at it and drove it but was not able to diagnose the problem, even after replacing the cam and crank sensors and disconnecting various sensors, cables, etc., trying to identify the problem. Could this be an issue with the starter motor since the engine operates fine once it is running?

A: I wonder if the knocking noise is tricking the knock sensors into retarding ignition timing to protect the engine. Knock sensors are effectively small microphones that listen for the sound of detonation in the cylinders and signal the ECM, which retards the timing. Mechanical noises that mimic the sound of detonation may fool the ECM. The retarded ignition timing might explain the engine's idle rpm and restart characteristics.

You didn't identify whether your Durango is equipped with the 4.7-liter or 5.7-liter V8 engine, but both appear to utilize a geared starter motor. You could have the starter tested for amperage draw on or off the car. Once the starter is removed, the teeth on the flex plate ring gear can be inspected for damage. I found remanufactured starters for under $100.

One final thought: Years ago we had a Malibu wagon that developed an intermittent but very loud knocking noise. After much knuckle-busting, teeth-gnashing and head-scratching, it turned out to be a loose torque converter mounting bolt that intermittently hit the inside of the bell housing.

...

Q: My wife's 2001 Ford Escape has a problem with the cruise control. On a recent trip, when I turned on the cruise, the green light went on but when I attempted to set the speed control it would not set. The light to indicate that the speed control was set did not come on. Repeated attempts also failed. Then the green light indicating that the speed control was on also went off and wouldn't come back on. Yesterday my wife informed me that the green light did come on but the speed control would not activate. Could you help us diagnose this problem?

A: Your best diagnostic strategy is to use a scan tool and the cruise control's self-diagnostic capabilities to identify the problem. This may lead to pinpoint testing of the speed control switch, servo, deactivator switch, brake switch and other components. Also, make sure all brake lights are operational.

Please note that Ford issued a recall back in 2000 addressing potential corrosion or binding in the speed control cable.

L L L

Q: My Ford Fusion has about 85,000 miles on it. It has a set of Goodyear tires with about 12,000 miles on them. Both right-side tires leak air enough that the "Low tire" light comes on every two weeks or so. The tires have been removed and resealed to their aluminum rims by the tire shop where I bought them and by my Ford dealer. Nothing seems to work. I've thought of buying new tires or even trading the car, but I like it a lot.

A: Typically, there are two possible causes for air leaks from replacement tires on alloy wheels — corrosion around the bead contact area on the rim or porosity of the wheel itself. Shops remove the corrosion and apply a special sealant to the bead to seal the tire.

You have three choices — have a tire specialist try resealing the tires again, replace the wheels or replace the car. I'd go with option one.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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Library to tackle Boston's data

A new team of librarians will take the mountains of data that the city of Boston releases to the public and make it usable and understandable for everyone, thanks to a nearly half-a-million-dollar grant.

"(The grant) is focused on taking the incredible open data resources that the city makes available and make them more useful to people," said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, the city's chief information officer. "You'll have easier access to that data by working through our public libraries to get it."

The city and the Boston Public Library is hiring a team of librarians who will be charged with making data as easy to find and understand as books.

The project is being funded through a $475,000 grant from the Knight Foundation.

"Librarians are a workforce that specialize in information curation and pointing citizens toward the information when they need it," said John Bracken, vice president of media innovation for the Knight Foundation. "We were particularly taken with the possibility of leveraging the platform of the library, the physical space of the library, to accelerate the use of civic data coming out of open government."

The program will likely include training and reference materials for residents.

"This will have relevance for the individual on the street, any resident," said David Leonard, director of administration and technology for the BPL. "In some ways it's a natural evolution of our traditional reference services."

The data that is routinely released by the city includes Citizen's Connect requests, crime incident reports and food permit maps, information someone interested in moving to a new neighborhood may want to know.

Boston has published much of the city's data for more than a year, starting with an Open Data executive order from Mayor Martin J. Walsh.

But, data.cityofboston.com is overwhelming, and hard to use for people who do not have a data science background.

"Historically, open data has just been a website that we throw up, and we put the data up there and say OK, our job is done, the data is open," Franklin-Hodge said. "That's the equivalent of getting a room and just throwing a pile of books on the floor and saying here's your library."

Last month, Boston released much of its data to techies, challenging them to create apps and visualizations that explain what is happening in the city.

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Stringent reverse mortgage rules near implementation

WASHINGTON — Interested in a reverse mortgage without a lot of hassles? Get your application in now. On April 27, a series of extensive "financial assessment" tests will make applying for a reverse mortgage tougher — much like applying for a standard home mortgage.

Reverse mortgages always have been different — available only to seniors 62 and older who have equity in their homes that they want to convert to cash. There are no repayments required until the borrower sells the house, moves out or dies. Homeowners' main responsibilities are to keep current on local property taxes, pay hazard insurance premiums and keep the place in reasonable condition.

The Federal Housing Administration has for three decades run the dominant insured reverse mortgage program in the country, and it has been relatively easygoing when it comes to underwriting. If you qualified on age and equity, you had a good shot at getting a loan.

But during the recession and mortgage bust years, thousands of borrowers fell into default because they didn't pay required property taxes and hazard insurance premiums. Further, real estate values plunged, producing huge losses on defaulted and foreclosed properties for the FHA. The losses got so severe that the Treasury Department had to provide the FHA with a $1.7 billion bailout in 2013, the first in the agency's history since its creation in the 1930s.

All of which led to the upcoming dramatic changes. Applicants now must demonstrate upfront that they have both the "willingness" and the "capacity" to meet their obligations. Lenders are going to pull borrowers' credit reports, just as they do with other mortgages.

Applicants will need to show that they paid their real estate taxes, homeowner association fees and other property-related charges on time for at least the past 24 months. They will be asked to produce documentation of their employment status, income and financial assets, as well as undergo a "residual income" analysis that examines all their monthly expenses and cash flow.

Inadequate marks on these tests may require borrowers to create a "life expectancy set aside" — essentially a reserve account or escrow funded wholly or in part from their loan proceeds. For some borrowers, the set-asides may be so substantial they'll be left with minimal cash at closing, making the entire reverse mortgage process a waste of time.

All of which, say reverse mortgage industry experts, will exclude potentially thousands of senior homeowners from obtaining a reverse mortgage, especially those who are on the margins economically and need the cash to help pay for ongoing household expenses.

Reza Jahangiri, CEO of Orange, Calif.-based American Advisors Group, the highest-volume reverse mortgage lender, said his company expects a decline in loan activity by "8 to 10 percent" after the assessment rules take effect. He also expects a shift toward "mainstream" borrowers who seek to use a reverse mortgage as part of their overall retirement planning, including raising money to buy a new house or to establish a flexible line of credit they can draw from. Many seniors currently can't qualify for bank home-equity credit lines, he said, but with adequate credit, income and assets, can qualify for a reverse mortgage in the form of a credit line.

Maggie O'Connell, who originates FHA-insured reverse mortgages for The Federal Savings Bank from offices in Reno, Nev., and Danville, Calif., said she's been scrambling "to get people in before the deadline" who might encounter difficulty — or be turned off by all the required documentation — under the new rules. Though she may do fewer loans in the short term, she said, in the long term the tougher rules "are probably a good thing" because they will prevent weak borrowers from taking out loans they can't handle and that will eventually end up in default, "which is bad for them and bad for us."

Bottom line: Tougher credit standards have come to reverse mortgages — finally. Before applying, be aware of the types of documentation you'll need. And when you talk with a lender or financial counselor about a reverse loan, make sure you involve the entire family, so everybody knows what you are getting into.

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Sprint-RadioShack stores launched across Bay State

Forty Massachusetts 
RadioShacks — including locations in Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan, East Boston and Cambridge — were among 1,435 nationwide that relaunched yesterday as co-branded Sprint-RadioShack stores.

The move more than doubles the footprint of the mobile carrier, which will occupy about a third of each store to sell devices and services from Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile under a "store-within-a-store" model.

RadioShack products will continue to be sold in the stores.

Sprint made the deal with Standard General affiliate General Wireless Inc., which last week bought 1,743 stores from RadioShack after the 94-year-old, Boston-born consumer electronics chain filed for bankruptcy protection in February.

"This important partnership with Sprint has enabled RadioShack to continue to provide a trusted destination for our millions of loyal consumers," RadioShack CEO Ron Garriques said in a statement.

Temporary Sprint-RadioShack signage eventually will be replaced, and Sprint will build out the store-within-a-store concept in the next several months.

Sprint said it plans to hire about 100 workers for the Massachusetts stores.

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MCCA sticks to expansion plan

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority is pushing ahead with plans for the expansion of its South Boston exhibition center even as the governor has put the brakes on $1 billion in bonding needed for the project and its champion, authority head James Rooney, is taking a new job.

The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center expansion committee yesterday voted to designate the architectural team of Brooks + Scarpa of Los Angeles and Spalding Tougias of Boston as its preliminary choice to design two garages on E and D streets.

The garages, with a combined 1,500 spaces, would replace parking that will be lost to the expansion project. The MCCA will now negotiate a contract with the architectural firms.

The move comes as Gov. Charlie Baker's administration continues to review the financing of the BCEC expansion after the bonding was put on hold soon after the governor took office.

Rooney, the executive director of the MCCA who has pushed hard for the expansion, is taking over the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce on July 1, but said yesterday he remains confident the BCEC project will go forward without him at the helm.

"I don't think this is about me. I think that the vision, the program, the economic development opportunities are much bigger than one person," Rooney said. "There's a very strong team of people here that have contributed to the success of the operation."

But Rooney also is looking ahead to his new job, saying he plans to reach out to startups and tech companies to integrate them into the chamber, and may even do away with its signature breakfast networking events.

The breakfasts are a Boston business institution, but may not be as welcoming to a new generation of business leaders, he said.

"These breakfasts and other things the chamber does that might have been part of the success strategy for the past 25 years, I think we need to take a fresh look at those," said Rooney. "Is this the kind of thing that millennials want when they think about networking and socialization?"

Under retiring CEO Paul Guzzi, the chamber has started to become more active in the high-tech community, and Rooney said he will focus on continuing to expand the diversity of the chamber's membership.

"Certainly understanding how the so-called new economy and the technology, innovation-based industries affect what we define as commerce in Boston will be a focus area," he said.

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The Ticker

No-tipping shops can keep money

The state Supreme Judicial Court says shop owners can keep tips left for workers if their businesses have policies against tipping. The SJC ruled yesterday that where a no-tipping policy has been clearly communicated to customers, any money left behind as a tip can be kept by the owner or put in a cup of abandoned change for other customers.

The ruling came in a case brought by current and former employees of a Dunkin' Donuts franchisee.

The court also ruled if an employer hasn't communicated a no-tipping policy then tips left by customers belong to the workers who served them.

No long lines 
for Apple watch

An online rush replaced the traditional overnight queues outside Apple stores yesterday as the iconic tech company began taking orders and letting shoppers get their hands on its much-anticipated smartwatch for the first time.

Eager customers placed online orders for the Apple Watch as soon as Apple's website began accepting them. Within half an hour, the company appeared to sell out the initial batch of watches that were available for the first official day of shipping on April 24.

• The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative has hired Juan Leyton as executive director. Leyton has worked extensively in the field of community economic development and community-building. Most recently, he worked as a consultant with the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund and some of Boston's leading nonprofits like Sociedad Latino, Family Independence Initiative and the Greater Boston Latino Network. He has also previously served as executive director for CityLife/Vida Urbana and Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts.

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Healey: Forgive student debt

Attorney General Maura Healey, along with attorneys general across the country, is asking the federal Department of Education to forgive the student loan debt of students who they say fell victim to unfair and misleading practices by for-profit schools.

"These are situations where students are simply seeking a way to better themselves, and they get lured in by these false promises, and then they're on the hook for $15,000, $20,000," Healey said. "I've heard from so many people who were victimized by these schools."

Healey and the top law enforcement officials for eight other states sent a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan yesterday, saying students at schools operated by Corinthian Colleges, including Everest Institute in Chelsea and Brighton, were taken advantage of and asking that their federal loan debt be wiped out.

"At the end of the day, these students were nothing but a pass-through for these schools to get their hands on federal dollars," Healey said. "The welfare and education of students was not their priority; it never has been."

Corinthian reached an agreement last year with the DOE to sell or shut down its campuses. The AG's office sued Corinthian a year ago, claiming students were misled about the schools' track record, and were pressured into accepting loans. The AG has also targeted three other for-profit schools, and Healey said "there are a number of schools under investigation."

A spokesman for Corinthian said the allegations against it focus on isolated incidents.

"Corinthian continues to dispute the allegations made against it and continues to believe its schools provide significant value for its students," the spokesman said.

The letter also asks the Department of Education to create a framework for students of other schools that have been deemed predatory.

"Through their predatory practices, these unscrupulous for-profit schools have co-opted a public loan program intended to increase access to higher education and left hundreds of thousands of students in financial ruin," the letter says. "Aggressive recruitment is the only thing these for-profit schools do well."

The letter says for-profit schools are responsible for nearly half of all student loan defaults, despite only enrolling 13 percent of all students who borrow.

In December, a group of U.S. senators, including Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, sent a similar letter to the DOE.

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