A complaint filed by attorney Jim McManis alleges San Jose has a yearslong history of flouting the California Public Records Act, which requires government agencies to turn over public records. (San José Spotlight file photo)

SAN JOSE FACES A WIDE ARRAY of disaster risks — everything from wildfires to floods and mass shootings — each of which poses its own difficult questions for emergency management officials tasked with leading the city’s evacuation efforts. But those emergency planners will soon get a high-tech assist in these life-or-death calls from a cutting-edge, artificial intelligence-powered software package.

The City Council signed off on a $3.5 million, six-year agreement with Ladris Technologies to purchase a system its creators said can distill vast quantities of data to determine which route will most quickly lead evacuees to safety. The purchase comes just in time for the technology to aid in emergency preparations for a series of major sports events expected to bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to San Jose next year.

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