Latest news with #JohnMcMahon
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Head of NZ stock exchange Mark Peterson resigns
Head of the NZ Stock Exchange Mark Peterson said the time was right to stand down. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas The head of the NZ Stock Exchange (NZX), Mark Peterson, has resigned and will leave in April next year after close to a decade in the position. He said he was close to achieving certain projects aimed at developing and bringing growth for the company, and it was an appropriate time to be going. "The company is in a strong position financially - including NZX Wealth Technologies now being cashflow positive from external client activity. "NZX has an experienced and talented senior management team, is operating up-to-date and secure technology infrastructure and has a positive organisational culture and relationships with customers, stakeholders and shareholders. "This demonstrates the time is right for me to stand down and for the NZX board to appoint a new chief executive to lead NZX into the future and continue to deliver its strategic priorities." Peterson said giving such advance warning would allow a smooth transition and give plenty of time to search for a new chief executive. He joined NZX in 2015 as the head of its markets operations, was appointed acting chief executive in January 2017 and confirmed in that position in April 2017. His term was extended in August 2023. NZX chairperson John McMahon said Peterson had been an exceptional leader of NZX. "He is a highly effective all-round performer who has calmly and ably led the NZX Group through some challenging and volatile times. "Mark has also built strong relationships in New Zealand and internationally, in particular the business partnerships we have with the Singapore Stock Exchange and the European Energy Exchange." Peterson counted the launch of NZX's anonymous mid-point trading venue, NZX Dark, its equity futures products, and the expansion of its wealth management business, Smart, as key achievements. He said he believed he still had another executive role in him but did not have any firm plans other than taking a break. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
11-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Comcom warns 2degrees over satellite marketing
Download Weekly May 30 2025. The Commerce Commission warns 2degrees over satellite claims; Tait bids for Vital; the TCF introduces a code to support customers needing priority services; Spark recycles laptops for schools; Xero adds iPhone tap payments Now it's 2degrees in the LEO promises naughty seat The Commerce Commission has warned 2degrees that its May 2023 'No Giant Wait' advertising campaign may have breached the Fair Trading Act. The advertising claimed the telco would be able to offer customers 'satellite coverage launching this year, not next'. Small print at the bottom of the advertisement says: 'Text coverage for 100% of New Zealand will be available this year with a direct satellite line of sight.' The advertising referred to services 2degrees planned to offer using the Lynk low-Earth orbit satellite network. False, misleading, unsubstantiated A letter published on the Commerce Commission website says it investigated claims made in the advertisement that may be false, misleading or unsubstantiated. For now, the Commission has issued a warning although criminal proceedings remain an option. If that were to happen, the telco could be fined up to $600,000 for each offence. In November 2024, the Commission issued criminal proceedings against One New Zealand for claims it made about satellite services. The Commerce Commission's investigation found the claim was unsubstantiated because 'no testing of Lynk's satellites had been carried out in New Zealand at the time the representations were made'. It points out the qualifying information was in 'extremely small print and not sufficiently prominent or proximate to correct the impression created by the headline representation'. Lynk's slipped launch schedule The letter notes that Lynk's launch schedule had slipped by the time the advertising appeared and that 2degrees understood the unpredictability of satellite programmes. It goes on to point out that by March 2025, almost two years after the marketing campaign, 2degrees still could not offer customers a satellite to mobile service. In April, the Commerce Commission wrote to 2degrees about the matter. @degrees responded saying it accepts the findings. Tait makes bid for Vital Christchurch's Tait International has Vital Ltd in its takeover sights. The company's chair, John McMahon, issued a notice through the NZX of an offer to buy all Vital's shares for 45 cents per share. In a separate media release, Tait says the price is a: '…64% premium to the price of $0.275 per VTL share immediately prior to the trading halt being announced on 26 May 2025'. Tait Communications CEO Yoram Benit says: 'The proposed takeover is a strategic move to expand our market positioning, product offerings and reach in New Zealand.' Vital is the NZX-listed telco formed when TeamTalk and CityLink combined and rebranded in 2019. It was the subject of a failed takeover attempt last year by Empire Technology. That process ended badly with the Takeovers Panel ordering Empire to pay for the failed takeover although the company's owner plans an appeal. Spark also attempted a takeover of the business around eight years ago. TCF code aims to shield vulnerable customers A new code published by the Telecommunications Forum aims to improve protections for customers who rely on fixed-line services for health, safety or disability reasons. The TCF says its Vulnerable Consumer Code is a voluntary industry-led initiative. It '…sets out clear obligations for retail service providers (RSPs) and network operators to ensure that registered consumers—those with verified needs—receive priority support in the provision, maintenance, and repair of essential fixed-line services.' The code covers services delivered over copper, fibre, fixed wireless and hybrid fibre-coaxial. It also covers satellite networks. While Starlink, the most-used satellite service in New Zealand, is not a TCF member, a number of TCF members resell Starlink and other satellite services. While there are already a series of consumer protections in place, in some cases backed by legislation, the TCF's goal is to add consistency. Spark recycles laptops for school digital inclusion Spark is working with Quadrant on a laptop lease programme which will see hundreds of mobile computers donated to school students. The pair say 400 laptops have already been distributed to schools in South Auckland and Wellington. Quadrent has bought more than 3,000 laptops from Spark, which will be resold to fund the purchase of 800 new laptops for school students. Spark corporate relations and sustainability director Leela Ashford says the programme helps reduce electronic waste. At the same time, she makes a connection between the Quadrent Green Lease laptop programme and Skinny Jump. This is Spark's subsidised internet access programme, used by 33,000 homes. Xero debuts small business iPhone payments Xero says it now allows small businesses using Apple iPhones to handle instant contactless payments. The new feature means businesses can accept payments from credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and from digital wallets. Xero customers need an account with the Stripe payment service to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. In other news… Morrison pockets $456m in fees as Infratil makes net loss of $261.3m Chris Keall takes a wider look at recent financial reporting by Infratil, the owner of One NZ. He reveals One NZ's revenue fell from $1.996b to $1.921b, but the company's guidance shows performance is expected to tick up over the current year. Homes gates, security systems affected by 3G shutdown The TDF's Paul Brislen talked about the practicalities of closing the 3G phone network at last week's Tuanz Connecting Aotearoa Summit. At least two other speakers touched on potential problems the shutdown would cause for people in rural New Zealand. At the RNZ site, Susan Edmunds writes about a nasty consumer aspect of the shutdown. Last year a Christchurch woman was sold an automatic gate controlled by 3G. This year she was told it won't work after the 3G network closes later this year. At Interest, Juha Saarinen writes about an important development for renewable energy. 'Meridian Energy has officially opened New Zealand's first large-scale grid battery storage system at Ruakākā, the first of its kind, and a milestone in the country's renewable energy infrastructure development.' The Download Weekly is supported by Chorus New Zealand. ComCom warns 2degrees over satellite marketing was first posted at Content Sourced from Original url
Scoop
11-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Comcom warns 2degrees over satellite marketing
Article – Bill Bennett Download Weekly May 30 2025. The Commerce Commission warns 2degrees over satellite claims; Tait bids for Vital; the TCF introduces a code to support customers needing priority services; Spark recycles laptops for schools; Xero adds iPhone tap payments Now it's 2degrees in the LEO promises naughty seat The Commerce Commission has warned 2degrees that its May 2023 'No Giant Wait' advertising campaign may have breached the Fair Trading Act. The advertising claimed the telco would be able to offer customers 'satellite coverage launching this year, not next'. Small print at the bottom of the advertisement says: 'Text coverage for 100% of New Zealand will be available this year with a direct satellite line of sight.' The advertising referred to services 2degrees planned to offer using the Lynk low-Earth orbit satellite network. False, misleading, unsubstantiated A letter published on the Commerce Commission website says it investigated claims made in the advertisement that may be false, misleading or unsubstantiated. For now, the Commission has issued a warning although criminal proceedings remain an option. If that were to happen, the telco could be fined up to $600,000 for each offence. In November 2024, the Commission issued criminal proceedings against One New Zealand for claims it made about satellite services. The Commerce Commission's investigation found the claim was unsubstantiated because 'no testing of Lynk's satellites had been carried out in New Zealand at the time the representations were made'. It points out the qualifying information was in 'extremely small print and not sufficiently prominent or proximate to correct the impression created by the headline representation'. Lynk's slipped launch schedule The letter notes that Lynk's launch schedule had slipped by the time the advertising appeared and that 2degrees understood the unpredictability of satellite programmes. It goes on to point out that by March 2025, almost two years after the marketing campaign, 2degrees still could not offer customers a satellite to mobile service. In April, the Commerce Commission wrote to 2degrees about the matter. @degrees responded saying it accepts the findings. Tait makes bid for Vital Christchurch's Tait International has Vital Ltd in its takeover sights. The company's chair, John McMahon, issued a notice through the NZX of an offer to buy all Vital's shares for 45 cents per share. In a separate media release, Tait says the price is a: '…64% premium to the price of $0.275 per VTL share immediately prior to the trading halt being announced on 26 May 2025'. Tait Communications CEO Yoram Benit says: 'The proposed takeover is a strategic move to expand our market positioning, product offerings and reach in New Zealand.' Vital is the NZX-listed telco formed when TeamTalk and CityLink combined and rebranded in 2019. It was the subject of a failed takeover attempt last year by Empire Technology. That process ended badly with the Takeovers Panel ordering Empire to pay for the failed takeover although the company's owner plans an appeal. Spark also attempted a takeover of the business around eight years ago. TCF code aims to shield vulnerable customers A new code published by the Telecommunications Forum aims to improve protections for customers who rely on fixed-line services for health, safety or disability reasons. The TCF says its Vulnerable Consumer Code is a voluntary industry-led initiative. It '…sets out clear obligations for retail service providers (RSPs) and network operators to ensure that registered consumers—those with verified needs—receive priority support in the provision, maintenance, and repair of essential fixed-line services.' The code covers services delivered over copper, fibre, fixed wireless and hybrid fibre-coaxial. It also covers satellite networks. While Starlink, the most-used satellite service in New Zealand, is not a TCF member, a number of TCF members resell Starlink and other satellite services. While there are already a series of consumer protections in place, in some cases backed by legislation, the TCF's goal is to add consistency. Spark recycles laptops for school digital inclusion Spark is working with Quadrant on a laptop lease programme which will see hundreds of mobile computers donated to school students. The pair say 400 laptops have already been distributed to schools in South Auckland and Wellington. Quadrent has bought more than 3,000 laptops from Spark, which will be resold to fund the purchase of 800 new laptops for school students. Spark corporate relations and sustainability director Leela Ashford says the programme helps reduce electronic waste. At the same time, she makes a connection between the Quadrent Green Lease laptop programme and Skinny Jump. This is Spark's subsidised internet access programme, used by 33,000 homes. Xero debuts small business iPhone payments Xero says it now allows small businesses using Apple iPhones to handle instant contactless payments. The new feature means businesses can accept payments from credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and from digital wallets. Xero customers need an account with the Stripe payment service to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. In other news… Morrison pockets $456m in fees as Infratil makes net loss of $261.3m Chris Keall takes a wider look at recent financial reporting by Infratil, the owner of One NZ. He reveals One NZ's revenue fell from $1.996b to $1.921b, but the company's guidance shows performance is expected to tick up over the current year. Homes gates, security systems affected by 3G shutdown The TDF's Paul Brislen talked about the practicalities of closing the 3G phone network at last week's Tuanz Connecting Aotearoa Summit. At least two other speakers touched on potential problems the shutdown would cause for people in rural New Zealand. At the RNZ site, Susan Edmunds writes about a nasty consumer aspect of the shutdown. Last year a Christchurch woman was sold an automatic gate controlled by 3G. This year she was told it won't work after the 3G network closes later this year. At Interest, Juha Saarinen writes about an important development for renewable energy. 'Meridian Energy has officially opened New Zealand's first large-scale grid battery storage system at Ruakākā, the first of its kind, and a milestone in the country's renewable energy infrastructure development.' The Download Weekly is supported by Chorus New Zealand. ComCom warns 2degrees over satellite marketing was first posted at Content Sourced from Original url
Scoop
11-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Comcom warns 2degrees over satellite marketing
Now it's 2degrees in the LEO promises naughty seat The Commerce Commission has warned 2degrees that its May 2023 'No Giant Wait' advertising campaign may have breached the Fair Trading Act. The advertising claimed the telco would be able to offer customers 'satellite coverage launching this year, not next'. Small print at the bottom of the advertisement says: 'Text coverage for 100% of New Zealand will be available this year with a direct satellite line of sight.' The advertising referred to services 2degrees planned to offer using the Lynk low-Earth orbit satellite network. False, misleading, unsubstantiated A letter published on the Commerce Commission website says it investigated claims made in the advertisement that may be false, misleading or unsubstantiated. For now, the Commission has issued a warning although criminal proceedings remain an option. If that were to happen, the telco could be fined up to $600,000 for each offence. In November 2024, the Commission issued criminal proceedings against One New Zealand for claims it made about satellite services. The Commerce Commission's investigation found the claim was unsubstantiated because 'no testing of Lynk's satellites had been carried out in New Zealand at the time the representations were made'. It points out the qualifying information was in 'extremely small print and not sufficiently prominent or proximate to correct the impression created by the headline representation'. Lynk's slipped launch schedule The letter notes that Lynk's launch schedule had slipped by the time the advertising appeared and that 2degrees understood the unpredictability of satellite programmes. It goes on to point out that by March 2025, almost two years after the marketing campaign, 2degrees still could not offer customers a satellite to mobile service. In April, the Commerce Commission wrote to 2degrees about the matter. @degrees responded saying it accepts the findings. Tait makes bid for Vital Christchurch's Tait International has Vital Ltd in its takeover sights. The company's chair, John McMahon, issued a notice through the NZX of an offer to buy all Vital's shares for 45 cents per share. In a separate media release, Tait says the price is a: '...64% premium to the price of $0.275 per VTL share immediately prior to the trading halt being announced on 26 May 2025'. Tait Communications CEO Yoram Benit says: 'The proposed takeover is a strategic move to expand our market positioning, product offerings and reach in New Zealand.' Vital is the NZX-listed telco formed when TeamTalk and CityLink combined and rebranded in 2019. It was the subject of a failed takeover attempt last year by Empire Technology. That process ended badly with the Takeovers Panel ordering Empire to pay for the failed takeover although the company's owner plans an appeal. Spark also attempted a takeover of the business around eight years ago. TCF code aims to shield vulnerable customers A new code published by the Telecommunications Forum aims to improve protections for customers who rely on fixed-line services for health, safety or disability reasons. The TCF says its Vulnerable Consumer Code is a voluntary industry-led initiative. It '...sets out clear obligations for retail service providers (RSPs) and network operators to ensure that registered consumers—those with verified needs—receive priority support in the provision, maintenance, and repair of essential fixed-line services.' The code covers services delivered over copper, fibre, fixed wireless and hybrid fibre-coaxial. It also covers satellite networks. While Starlink, the most-used satellite service in New Zealand, is not a TCF member, a number of TCF members resell Starlink and other satellite services. While there are already a series of consumer protections in place, in some cases backed by legislation, the TCF's goal is to add consistency. Spark recycles laptops for school digital inclusion Spark is working with Quadrant on a laptop lease programme which will see hundreds of mobile computers donated to school students. The pair say 400 laptops have already been distributed to schools in South Auckland and Wellington. Quadrent has bought more than 3,000 laptops from Spark, which will be resold to fund the purchase of 800 new laptops for school students. Spark corporate relations and sustainability director Leela Ashford says the programme helps reduce electronic waste. At the same time, she makes a connection between the Quadrent Green Lease laptop programme and Skinny Jump. This is Spark's subsidised internet access programme, used by 33,000 homes. Xero debuts small business iPhone payments Xero says it now allows small businesses using Apple iPhones to handle instant contactless payments. The new feature means businesses can accept payments from credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and from digital wallets. Xero customers need an account with the Stripe payment service to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. In other news... Morrison pockets $456m in fees as Infratil makes net loss of $261.3m Chris Keall takes a wider look at recent financial reporting by Infratil, the owner of One NZ. He reveals One NZ's revenue fell from $1.996b to $1.921b, but the company's guidance shows performance is expected to tick up over the current year. Homes gates, security systems affected by 3G shutdown The TDF's Paul Brislen talked about the practicalities of closing the 3G phone network at last week's Tuanz Connecting Aotearoa Summit. At least two other speakers touched on potential problems the shutdown would cause for people in rural New Zealand. At the RNZ site, Susan Edmunds writes about a nasty consumer aspect of the shutdown. Last year a Christchurch woman was sold an automatic gate controlled by 3G. This year she was told it won't work after the 3G network closes later this year. 'Meridian Energy has officially opened New Zealand's first large-scale grid battery storage system at Ruakākā, the first of its kind, and a milestone in the country's renewable energy infrastructure development.' The Download Weekly is supported by Chorus New Zealand. ComCom warns 2degrees over satellite marketing was first posted at Bill Bennett Freelance journalist. Auckland-based Bill Bennett writes technology and business stories that are directly relevant to New Zealand readers. His emphasis is on telecommunications, but he also covers other aspects of technology and business. You can find his features in the New Zealand Herald and hear him regularly on RNZ Nine to Noon and the NZ Tech Podcast. Bennett's The Download Weekly here. If you want to support his work, you can make a donation to his PressPatron account.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Yahoo
A rich L.A. neighborhood donated surveillance technology to the LAPD — then drama ensued
When residents of a ritzy West L.A. neighborhood experienced an increase in burglaries last year, they decided to invest in technology to fight the problem. The neighborhood association in Cheviot Hills — a community of million-dollar homes sandwiched between the 10 Freeway and Century City — raised more than $200,000 to purchase scores of controversial, high-tech cameras that scan license plates. The automated plate readers, as they are known, enable authorities to track when vehicles of interest pass through certain intersections. The devices can also be mounted on police cars, allowing officers to sweep up troves of license plate data as they drive around. Police say the gadgets help investigate stolen cars, locate fugitives, and solve crimes by checking who came and went from a neighborhood on any given day. But when the community donated the cameras to the Los Angeles Police Foundation — one of several nonprofits that support the Los Angeles Police Department — they sent them with strings attached: The police were only allowed to use them in Cheviot Hills. In the months since, the act of charity has ignited discussions about who gets to decide how technology donated to the LAPD is deployed — and whether the data collected by the plate readers could be used for purposes far beyond the intended scope. Critics have long warned about privacy concerns because the cameras track people without consent or a warrant, collecting data about law-abiding motorists that is stored up to five years. Since its creation more than 25 years ago, the Los Angeles Police Foundation has funneled millions from mostly unnamed donors to the LAPD. Sometimes the money pays for holiday parties or exercise equipment, but it has also been used to acquire cutting-edge police equipment and technology not covered in the department's annual multibillion-dollar budget. LAPD Deputy Chief John McMahon has accused the Police Foundation of overstepping its bounds with the plate reader donation, according to sources who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation for speaking about internal department matters. McMahon objected to the limitations on where the cameras could be used, the sources said, and also took issue with the foundation pushing to buy the plate readers from a specific contractor, an Atlanta-based startup called Flock Safety. Read more: LAPD cops shot 21 bystanders in 10 years. How does it keep happening? After McMahon questioned the Flock camera donation in December, foundation board member Jeffrey Neu filed an internal complaint against him alleging bias, the sources said. Neu did not respond to a request for comment. McMahon declined to discuss the pending complaint, but told The Times there were good reasons to push back against the donation. The Flock cameras, he said, are not totally compatible with the LAPD's systems, including the department's fledgling real-time crime center, which monitors intelligence gathered from around the city. The department already uses plate readers from major companies Motorola Solutions and Axon, and McMahon said there are strict rules about how long the data they collect is stored, who gets to see it, and when. Its contract with Flock's data policies are slightly different, he said. McMahon, who heads the LAPD's Information Technology Bureau, said police departments should own and "retain full control" of the data they collect and be able to use it "as law enforcement agencies see fit' under the law. "Right now individual companies are trying to monopolize the business and prevent that from happening," said McMahon. "That's not in the best interest of taxpayers." The Police Foundation did not respond to inquiries. Holly Beilin, a spokesperson for Flock Safety, said the company recently made most of its source code available for free to users, including the LAPD. The department has used Flock cameras before without issue, Beilin said, noting that police can also access privately owned devices with permission from the owner. "There are more Flock cameras in the Los Angeles metro area than almost any other vendor, and detectives are regularly using them to solve crime," she said. She added that under the company's terms of service, Flock customers who give their cameras to police have to abide by Senate Bill 34 and other laws governing the sharing of license plate data. The Flock dispute has made enough noise to draw more scrutiny from the department's civilian oversight panel, which said it wants to avoid a precedent where crime-fighting technology only goes to areas that can afford it. At a meeting earlier this year, members of the Police Commission voted to approve the Cheviot Hills donation. The City Council also signed off on accepting the Flock cameras. But oversight officials have demanded more information about the department's overall strategy for deploying plate readers in other areas of the city. LAPD officials told the commission they currently have 1,500 police vehicles equipped with plate readers and another 160 devices that are mounted onto poles. The cameras, essentially a beefed-up version of the technology used to collect highway tolls, collect hundreds of thousands of plate numbers every month. Images of the plates are automatically run through criminal databases and trigger alerts to officers in the field when they record a "hit." Some vendors claim that new add-ons can detect subtle changes in motorist behavior, such as when a would-be burglar is "casing" a home by circling the block in their car. The department currently has an information-sharing agreement with five other jurisdictions, who have all agreed that they will not share the data with federal immigration authorities. Read more: Letters to the Editor: Privacy laws make it too difficult to learn outcomes when and if police are disciplined Commission President Erroll Southers asked how LAPD chooses where the readers are stationed, and whether the decisions are "being influenced by donors.' Most of the cameras are stationed in the San Fernando Valley, near crime hot spots and critical infrastructure, as well as at highway exits and on-ramps, responded Cmdr. Gisselle Espinoza. "It is not random, it is not loosey-goosey, it is not something capricious," she said. "It is very thoughtful." A point of contention with the Cheviot Hills cameras is that the neighborhood's donation to the foundation bypasses the city's regular procurement policy, which requires a bid process and vetting of vendors. In a statement, the Cheviot Hills Homeowners Assn. said it preferred Flock "due to their stellar reputation and strong recommendation from the experts we consulted with." Cindy Kane, who sits on the neighborhood association's board, said residents conferred with police, their local City Council office and other neighborhood associations before making their pick. One factor, Kane said, was that Beverlywood and other nearby communities had already signed deals with Flock. "The board discussed the privacy issues versus being proactive to address the crime, and that far outweighed the concerns of privacy issues," she said. "We also determined that working with the Police Foundation was the most effective and efficient way to secure donations from our residents that could be earmarked for this purpose." LAPD data shows burglaries in Cheviot Hills doubled from 22 in 2023 to 45 in 2023, but other types of crime in the neighborhood are low compared to the rest of the city. Read more: Mayor and LAPD chief tout double-digit drop in homicides compared with last year The public perception that crime is spiraling out of control — even as statistics show many cities are the safest they have been in decades — is one factor for why license plate readers have proliferated across the country. Civil liberties groups, activists and some academics have called on more states to tighten regulations on the technology, citing concerns about over-policing in communities of color, among other issues. False positives — where police wrongly identify a suspect based on a vehicle — are a risk, especially since records in the stolen car database are sometimes out of date. There is also worry about the security of the captured data, and who has access to it. The LAPD's lack of a formal data-sharing agreement with Flock opens the door for federal authorities to potentially request information from the company about an immigrant's whereabouts — undercutting the city's promise not to cooperate in the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign, warned Tiff Guerra, an organizer with the activist group Stop LAPD Spying. Read more: LAPD chief ousts lawyer blamed by union for disclosing thousands of officer photos The group's members and other critics routinely attend commission meetings and decry the department's growing arsenal of predictive policing software, facial recognition and other technologies. Putting plate readers in Cheviot Hills seems designed to further alienate wealthy communities from Blacks and Latinos, according to Guerra. "It raises questions, like, who gets surveilled? Who has the ability to pay for that surveillance and who's able to pay for these digital surveillance rings around their communities?" Guerra said. But whether the plate readers are placed in South L.A. or wealthier areas, police officials say concerns about mass tracking of motorists are overblown. LAPD Det. Alan Hamilton, who runs the LAPD's detective bureau, said the department already has its hands full trying to solve crimes — there's simply not enough time or manpower to start acting like Big Brother. 'My detectives are too busy just trying to keep up with the Joneses," Hamilton said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
