Future_of_Policing

Future of Policing Paper Fundamentals of Policing November 18, 2011 Instructor: Statia Hendrix The twenty-first century has put policing into a whole new situation, one in which the causes of crime and disorder often lie outside the immediate community, demanding new and innovative approaches from police. The focus of this paper will discuss trends that are currently affecting policing. The foreseeable critical issues that may affect the future of policing, and the changes needed to address these critical issues. As street crimes slowly decrease, new and more insidious types of offenses has arisen, especially terrorism and internet-assisted crimes. With a rudimentary mastery of modern technology, terrorists from anywhere in the world can bring chemical and biological mayhem to any place on earth. Also, hackers and crackers around the globe can shut down a chosen community’s internet-dependent monetary or energy systems. Successful police agencies will have to adapt and change rapidly, embrace technology and analyze emerging trends in communities. This brings us to our first trend affecting policing, hi-tech crime fighting. Hi-tech crime fighting involves the use of technology in every facet of policing, and involves intelligence-led policing. Intelligence-led policing is identification of specific criminal activities, and targeted enforcement against the highest-risk crimes or criminals to achieve overall reduction in the impact of crime in communities (Wallentine, 2009). The human element of intelligence-led policing involves an intelligence analyst. The 2001 terror attacks and subsequent terrorist efforts made police realize that they need to understand the infrastructure in communities. Such as water and food supplies, power grids, transportation systems, telecommunications and financial institutions because these are prime targets. This is where the intelligence analyst comes in, as police agencies make changes in gathering, assessing, communicating, and sharing information the analyst will be at the center of systems development and management (Wallentine, 2009). This means an intelligence analyst will become more necessary for small and large agencies. Two examples of hi-tech crime devises used now are the computer comparison statistics program (CONSTAT). The four major goals of COMSTAT are accurate and timely intelligence, effective tactics, rapid development of personnel and resources, and relentless follow-up and assessment. COMSTAT has been so successful in reducing street crime and violence that it has been adopted by police agencies across the U.S. (Stephens, 2010). Another hi-tech instrument used in crime fighting is facial recognition systems that identifies known criminals or wanted persons and telegraph their location and travel directions to different policing agencies. Some new devices that are part of video surveillance and undergoing testing are “The Bug”. This device features eight cameras that are supported by software that is prompt to scan for suspicious behavior then it locks on the suspect and tracks them on camera. Also, there are nanotechnologies that will detect the components of explosives, chemical and biological weapons (Wallentine, 2009). Even though the use of technology in policing will be used to protect society, this is a double-edged sword, because with this technology comes the worry of invasion of privacy. That Americans have protection against thru the constitution. This leads to out next tend affecting policing. Invasion of privacy is another trend affecting policing. The right to privacy is not directly mentioned in the Constitution, but the Supreme Court has held that it is a fundamental liberty deserving protection, because privacy is implied in the first, third, fourth, fifth, ninth and fourteenth amendments under the Due Process clause (usconstitution.net, 1995-2010). This has made courts begin to struggle with legal implications of new privacy intrusions. Lawyers and judges are trying to shape new provisions in evidence rules to accommodate the expansion of technology in policing, specifically surveillance and security searches. In the last few years, more state legislatures and state supreme courts have created statues and evidentiary rules that either mandate or strongly encourage audio or video recording of police agencies interrogations. This way policing agencies can protect themselves legally when dealing with offenders. The use of hi-tech instruments to protect society and finding ways to do this without invading the privacy of citizens can bring about critical issues that can affect policing in the future. One critical issue relating to hi-tech use in policing, according to Tom Cowper, State police Inspector (2011) is “technology will create a rapidly changing social environment to which police will have to adapt”. This may lead to officers who are not familiar with or who cannot grasp technology use to have to retire early or be passed over for promotions. At the same time, technology will permit radical new policing methods, systems and processes that police will have to create, incorporate, and learn. These new methods may come under scrutiny from the public; due to thinking it violates their rights. Another issue of major concern is funding for hi-tech equipment. Most departments have small budgets and most is spent on personnel with little left over. The equipment needed to adapt to this threat of technological crimes is expensive. This is a critical issue because departments lacking this equipment will not have the ability to serve their areas fully, thus allowing the community to suffer. In relations to privacy there are liability concerns. The use of new technology can spawn lawsuits and bad press. Technologies used to detect weapons on people can suffer the same scrutiny as x-ray devices in airports. These devices can reveal anatomical details that could imply invasion of privacy, which is a big concern of the public. Also, the specter of “Big Brother” can lead society to be against new technology, which can influence the development and use. Even in police agencies officers may object to the Big-Brother-over-the-shoulder aspect of Global Positioning Systems. Officers may not like the notion of the supervisors knowing where they are located every moment during their shift. So even though technology advances can help crime, there is always the aspect of knowing someone is watching that deters society from accepting it. These issues are critical because to add to public safety, some civil liberties may have to be let go to get the maximum effect from technology. The bottom line is to use technology in crime fighting and maintain public privacy it will depend on the priorities of society, concerning what they want, and how far are they willing to go to achieve it. We have discusses the trends affecting policing, the use of technology to fight crime and how this might affect the privacy of society. We also discussed the issues that come along with these trends. To address these issues there are several changes that have to be made. Policing has traditionally been a closed, slow to change subculture. If agencies stay within this mindset they will find it difficult to cope with the emerging complexity of combating internet crime and terrorism, while keeping a lid on street crimes. Agencies have to adapt to the times by making sure veteran officers are trained using these new technological methods, and new personnel have to be better educated in the computer field. This will lead to a new structure that is needed, that fosters teamwork and cooperation with other agencies and community groups. Better technology, better educated and trained officers and leaders, and better community ties will help address these issues. References Stephens, Gene. Policing the future: Law enforcement new challenges. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.allbusiness.com United States Constitution Online. (1995-2010). Retrieved from http://www.usconstitution.net Wallentine, K. Law enforcement trends to watch in 2010 and beyond. (2009). Law Enforcement and the Law. Retrieved from http://www.policeone.com