Daily Times

Advances in technologies have been a mixed blessing for all walks of life including contemporary law enforcement agencies. Especially the explosive spread of internet access over the last two decades had considerable impact on everyone. On one hand, everyday technologies like social media and other applications are a boon to law enforcement but they have also made it possible for gangs and even terrorist organizations to coordinate like never before, creating an entirely new digital space that needs policing. Some 30 years ago, the only “technology” needed was the police radio and the location of the nearest pay phone. Today police radios scan many channels and officers typically have in-car video cameras, traffic monitoring radar units, in-car computer data terminals with Internet access, body cameras, and of course, personal cellphones.

The sci-fi vision of police officers rushing to the scene of a crime before any crime has even been committed may be rather far-fetched but technology is increasingly playing a role in the modern police force. We are already witnessing the future of the police force would largely depend on technology. Police would depend in serving the public by using a range of technologies. Technology could assist the police with their enquiries, from electronic notebooks to autonomous crowd monitoring, sensor networks and amplified reality.

Much of the technology uptake is driven by the need to make savings as police budgets are cut but alongside that is a drive to turn data into real time intelligence. Police will use many different technologies, from electronic notebooks which allow officers to check a suspect’s criminal record while they are at a crime scene, to sensor networks which help them to covertly track people and vehicles, the vast majority of forces in the world already use Twitters and Facebook to interact with the public. On the other hand, Social media is far from the only technology that’s drawn concern from police. Many in the law enforcement community have particularly cited a mobile application called Waze. A traffic-tracking tool that displays the current location of police officers, as potentially allowing those with criminal intent to avoid or seek out and harm law enforcement personnel.

While this certainly complicates the work of police in keeping the public safe, criminals using the Internet, whatever they use it for, often leave a trail behind. With the proper knowledge and tools on their side, law enforcement technicians can use this expansive channel of communication against potential or suspected criminal offenders. The Internet has become a broad web of shared personal information that remains permissible as evidence when attained legally, creating an organic database of recorded behaviors that can provide unique insight into each case. When analyzed, this data can even be useful in identifying criminal patterns and anticipating threats.

Police are being tasked with increasingly complicated challenges as the state of technology evolves, but today’s most effective agencies aren’t exactly lacking in technical muscle. The same rapid expansion of technology forcing quick adaptation on the part of police has set the stage for exciting, innovative tools that help officers serve their communities. Law enforcement agencies around the world have recognized the value of these tools, using them to meet the shifting demands of police work. Hopefully, we might provide our police force these advanced tools to combat crime. Although, some of the equipment are still relatively untested, others are controversial, but each new armament in the fight against crime has the potential to radically alter the way law enforcement operates.

The 3-D Crime Scene Imaging methods are used to dissect every facet of a crime scene, which is understandable that how far the field has come. 3-D scanning technology, like some of the solutions offered by Faro, certainly seems like something straight out of science fiction. These devices take a three-dimensional scan of an entire crime scene, replacing many sketches and photographs. The technology called “Through-the-Wall Radar” that uses radio waves to detect movement through walls caused quite a stir when it was brought to public attention some time ago. This technology isn’t actually new, and has been used by nearly 50 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. to mitigate the dangers of entering buildings that house criminal activity.

Using the L-3 CyTerra Range-R, which is sensitive enough to measure even the slightest movement, officers can gain a complete picture of what threats they’ll face, which is critical information to the success and safety of a breach. There is world-wide call for police officers to have Body-Worn Cameras. Recently, the city of Detroit in US has announced that all police officers would soon be outfitted with body cameras, and numerous others agencies have done the same. These cameras, which are now small enough to be mounted on an officer’s uniform or on a pair of glasses do far more than just promote public trust and accountability in the age of viral videos and demands for transparency. Though some members of the law enforcement community have raised concerns over the use of the cameras, they can actually provide a helpful resource to police departments and protect officers from an increasing abundance of false claims of inappropriate behavior or abuse.

Every second of video that an officer’s camera records can be taken into evidence, providing a first-hand account of what took place during any interaction with a subject. The cameras provide the officer’s perspective on the incident unfettered by testimony and witness reports. Beyond that, departments can use the footage to train and practice crisis scenarios, reviewing successful arrests and discovering areas for improvement. Community members and law enforcement officers alike can benefit from police cameras seeing more frequent use. The law enforcement agencies are using Predictive Analytical approach, no doubt, the criminal elements have gained a powerful tool in the form of Internet, but so have law enforcement agencies, with more data available than ever before.

Using software dedicated to providing insight into criminal patterns and all legally warranted personal information, analysts are able to recognize connections between various activities and cases, even potentially predict where the next threat will emerge. These systems draw from a number of databases simultaneously, which helps law enforcement analyze information coming from mobile telephone service providers, banks, credit card companies, and many other public forms of data. Once all of the relevant information is gathered, new tools like these allow agencies to share their findings with others around the nation.

If our future cops have to adopt sci-fi approach which is inevitable and quite imminent considering the advancement in technology, then we have to bring changes in our police training schools and academies. The criteria for the induction in police services have to be changed and may be, have to change the present hierarchy system to accommodate more qualified officers at the micro-level.

The writer can be reached at malikmasud@hotmail.com