Apple Hosts Secretive Conferences to Teach Law Enforcement How to Better Use iPhone, CarPlay and Vision Pro for Police Work

Apple in 2023 hosted a "Global Police Summit" to help police agencies around the world better take advantage of Apple products for police work like surveillance, reports Forbes. The meeting was held in October 2023 at Apple Park, and it preceded the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference. As many as 50 police department employees from seven countries attended the events.

iphone 16 hands on front
At the event, police agencies shared their "successes, innovations, and lessons learned," according to an email about it, while Apple engineers did presentations on products and features that benefit law enforcement such as "CarPlay, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS via Satellite, Vision Pro and more."

LAPD chief information officer John McMahon told Forbes that it was one of the most useful conferences he'd attended. "I've never been part of an engagement that was so collaborative," he said. A New Zealand police department shared an experience creating an app for storing and accessing police data connected to the National Intelligence Database, as one example of what was demonstrated at the conference.

While Apple has refused to unlock iPhones at law enforcement request and has fought public battles to avoid adding backdoors to its products, Apple does respond to some legal requests from governments and law enforcement, and law enforcement agencies are a business like any other that can purchase Apple products for police work.

Electronic Frontier Foundation analyst Matthew Guariglia told Forbes that Apple has kept the product meetings and conferences quiet because the company is aware that they do not align with pro-privacy marketing. "They want to get the reputation that they protect users' data and they will do so at the expense of their relationship with law enforcement, and at the same time recognizing that creating tech for law enforcement is a multi-billion-dollar industry," he said.

Gary Oldham, who oversaw Apple's worldwide strategy for public safety and emergency services until August of this year, spoke with Forbes and said that he had worked to grow Apple's public safety market share in multiple target markets around the world. Oldham specifically worked with police agencies in California to "deepen Apple tech use." Several police departments in California are testing using the Vision Pro for surveillance work. In Western Australia, the police force uses Siri through ‌CarPlay‌ to access police data and send updates about incidents.

Oldham did not provide a reason why he left Apple in August, and Apple did not hold a Global Police Summit in 2024.

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Top Rated Comments

anshuvorty Avatar
9 months ago
So, essentially, Apple hosted a conference aimed at helping law enforcement become more tech-savvy and learn how to use Apple products more effectively?

Like a high-end version of the Genius Bar support sessions?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
9 months ago

Genuinely curious how something like AVP can help law enforcement.
Vision Pro is compatible with all the essential ('https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dunkin/id1056813463') law enforcement apps ('https://apps.apple.com/us/app/krispy-kreme/id482752836')
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
9 months ago

So, essentially, Apple hosted a conference aimed at helping law enforcement become more tech-savvy and learn how to use Apple products more effectively?

Like a high-end version of the Genius Bar support sessions?
yes sure and Drug Dealers only use Telegram to ask their nanny how their kid is doing
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GMShadow Avatar
9 months ago

So, essentially, Apple hosted a conference aimed at helping law enforcement become more tech-savvy and learn how to use Apple products more effectively?

Like a high-end version of the Genius Bar support sessions?
Pretty much.



Electronic Frontier Foundation analyst Matthew Guariglia told Forbes that Apple has kept the product meetings and conferences quiet because the company is aware that they do not align with pro-privacy marketing. "They want to get the reputation that they protect users' data and they will do so at the expense of their relationship with law enforcement, and at the same time recognizing that creating tech for law enforcement is a multi-billion-dollar industry," he said.
You can help the police better use tech and still be pro-privacy. I'm guessing the sessions weren't "Getting A Passcode Out Of A User" or "Using FaceID On A Concussed Suspect".
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kirbyrun Avatar
9 months ago

Genuinely curious how something like AVP can help law enforcement.
I imagine someday, it will be pretty standard procedure to take spatial video of crime scenes so that investigators can "walk through" any time they like after the fact.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ELman Avatar
9 months ago
Showing them how to view your emergency contact on a locked phone would be helpful.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)