Corrections/Police Law Enforcement Police Technology

Corrections/Police Law Enforcement

Police Technology - Police Safety

Has the increase in technology that is evident in today's world effected the police officer and if so then how?

The police officer's job is one that is demanding as well as dangerous. From the routine traffic stop to the pursuit of someone armed and dangerous, the police officer depends on the technology and equipment that are the tools of his trade. The advancement of technology in the twentieth century was one of rapid acceleration and has proven to be effective both in the control as well as the perpetration of crime. The technology provided to the police officer is being at all times defended by offensive creations and implementations by the criminal element in society.

Estimates states that crime has "increased fivefold since 1960." It is very unfortunate and incredulous that technology for police officers has been and still is somewhat behind the times in comparison to other technological advances. The "Crime Commission" was created for responding to the crime rates that were climbing upward very rapidly during the 1960's particularly in the urban areas. Funding was provided by the local and state governments but had only begun supporting law enforcement through funds at this juncture. Stated in the National Institute for Justice report is the fact that most of technology realized by law enforcement today was adaptations from the common consumer marketplace.

During the first twenty years of federal government support of the criminal justice agencies the only really notable creation for the safety of police officers was the invention of soft- body- armor for protection of officers. Fortunately the decade of the 1990's ushered in more government support in relation to safety equipment and devices for law enforcement.

Historical Facts of Police Officer Safety:

There are three eras used to define the history of U.S. policing. The first of these was the time between the years of 1840 and 1920 which is termed the "Political Era" There were two technologies of protective and defense equipment that were standard issue to police officers of that time. Those two items were the gun and the nightstick. Both of these are still utilized in the work of the present day police officer. During the decade of 1870 the technological advances were through the telephone, police callboxes with the following decade seeing the emergency of the Bertillon system of fingerprinting for criminal investigations.

The second era in policing was the era termed "The Professional Model Era" which ran from 1920 to 1970. This was a period of reform in which August Vollmer, the foremost champion of the Professional Model introduced use of the polygraph (lie-detector test) and fingerprinting and handwriting analysis. A crime laboratory opened during 1932 and the inauguration of the FBI rime laboratory was "eventually recognized as the most comprehensive and technologically advanced forensic laboratory in the world." The two-way radio and the automobile emerged during this era in policing. Other technological advancements such as the radar were introduced in the decade of the forties.

It wasn't until 120 years after the policing era's emergence that a coordinated effort in fostering development for technological advancements for police utilization was realized. Street disorders and crime were a real problem in the mid-sixties which was addressed by the release of a Crime Commission report that contained over 200 recommendations. The findings of the Crime Commission were that:

The system suffered from a significant science and technology gap."

The crime commission stated that:

The scientific and technological revolution that has so radically changed most of American society during the past few decades has had surprisingly little impact on the criminal justice system."

Further stated concerning the police specifically was that:

The police, with crime laboratories and radio networks, made early use of technology, but most police departments could have been equipped 30 or 40 years ago as well as they are today. Of all criminal justice agencies, the police traditionally have had the closest ties to science and technology, but they have called on scientific resources primarily to help in the solution of specific serious crimes, rather than for assistance in solving general problems of policing. (Crime Commission Report, 1967)

But for many reasons, even available devices have only slowly been incorporated into criminal justice operations," according to the task force in a statement made during that time as well as further stating that:

Procurement funds have been scarce, industry has only limited incentive to conduct basic development for an uncertain and fragmented market, and criminal justice agencies have very few technically trained people on their staffs."

III. The Creation of 911:

An establishment of a telephone number that would be used nationwide in calling the police was called for by the Commission on Crime. Reportedly, the telephone company, at&T did not initially like the idea because of conceived problems relating to dialing area boundaries as well as conceived jurisdictional problems and limitations. However, in the year of 1968 at&T announced the 911 emergency number and the establishment of the 911 system began. There were initial problems reported by the law enforcement agencies such as is demonstrated in the following remark written by two scholars of that time:

In many cities the 911 system with its promise of emergency response has become a tyrannical burden."

The computerization of U.S. law enforcement had begun in earnest with the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) providing funding for the initiative. However, the LEAA was abolished after thirteen years and $7.5 billion later. Fortunately many of the agencies continued to attempt computerization advancement for law enforcement.

By the decade of the 1990's there were statistics that gave evidence to the fact that computer use was growing instead of diminishing or leveling off and were being used for various purposes that had not been conceived of in earlier years. The Bureau of Justice Statistics released a report containing the following facts and figures:

The total number of local police departments using computers had increased by 2/3 since the figures of 1/2 in 1960.

95% of employed officers were employed by a locality that used computers.

The information with the greatest impact was the fact that most of these officers were not only using computers for record-keeping but were indeed using the computers as a tool in investigation of criminals, budgeting, analysis, allocation of officers in scheduling tasks as well as other vital functions. According to the 1998 National Institute for Justice, Justice and Statistics report:

One of the most important computer-based innovations in American policing during the past 30 years was the advent of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), administered by the FBI. NCIC is a central computerized index of fugitives, stolen property, and missing persons. Beginning in the late 1960s, this system was in many instances the first practical application of computer technology used by American police agencies. NCIC demonstrated that the diffuse organization of American law enforcement could be tied together in a centralized system used by all agencies in a common effort to improve service and functionality.

Another area that computers were crucial in using was that of the Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS). The AFIS system was not well planned or implemented therefore not being as effective as it could or should have been.

IV. The Community Policing Era: 1970

The era of "Community Policing" began around the year of 1970. Former chief police executive Brown wrote of this era that:

The use of high-technology equipment and applications is essential to the efficient practice of community policing. Without high technology, officers would find it difficult to provide the level and quality of services the community deserves. Computer-aided dispatching, computers in patrol cars, automated fingerprinting systems, and online offense-reporting systems are but a few examples of the pervasiveness of technology in agencies that practice community policing.

Chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina Police department, Dennis E. Nowicki stated during this time that:

The computer system will focus "on the needs of the problem-solving officer in the streets,"

One of the first evidences of the importance of computers for used in law enforcement was the use that began in mapping in order to pinpoint crime according to the criminologists of that time. The National Institute of Justice and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration took care of the bill on the larger technological items. The creation and development of body armor that was lightweight as well as the technology for DNA analysis were two accomplishments of the NIJ. The material "kevlar" was used in the creation of body armor.

The material was "strong and lighter than nylon" and was created initially to "replace the steel belting for tires." (Shubin, 1972.) by the middle of the decade of the Seventies the following performance standards had been set by the Institute's Law Enforcement Standards Laboratory:

Portable, mobile, and base station transmitters; mobile reusable batteries for portable radios.

Portable x-ray devices for bomb disarmament;

Communication equipment such as voice scramblers, car location systems, and radio transmitters, receivers and repeaters;

Active and passive night vision devices

Magnetic, mechanical, and mercury switches for burglar alarms'

Handcuffs, riot helmets, crash helmets, police body armor, shields, and haring protectors.

The middle of the decade of the 1980's was witness to the creation of the Technology Assessment Program Information Center and the Technology Program Advisory Agency. Their functions were as follows:

Technology Assessment Program Information Center: Picked up laboratories for testing equipment, supervised the testing process, published reports concerning the results that the lab released after testing.

Technology Program Advisory Agency: This was a large advisory body of senior local and federal law enforcement officials which are the predecessors to that which exists today

Important in the advancement of police protection was the creation and application in use of pepper spray.

VI. The Role of the National Institute for Justice in the Development of Law Enforcement technology:

The National Institute of Justice issued a "mandate in its capacity as the criminal research and development arms of the U.S. Department of Justice was to improve and strengthen the nations' system of justice with primary emphasis on local and state agencies."

There were however, according to the National Institute for Justice, obstacles blocking progress in the technological developments and implementation process in law enforcement agencies. The Institute used the word "fragmentation" to explain the biggest obstacle that has been observed and is demonstrated by the following statistics:

Law Enforcement Agency locations in the U.S. - 17,000

Number of officers in the U.S. - 570,000

Those obtaining 24 or fewer employees - 90%

Percentage of crime handled by local officers - 95%.

Fragmentation" causes many problems in including the fact that "most police departments have small budgets and make small buys of equipment." Added to that fact is that nearly all budgets of local agencies are spent on the personnel and have very little if any left over for the purchase of equipment.

The following is a listing of more obstacles:

The acquisition of equipment is usually on a "department-by-department basis" and without utilizing pool purchasing there is practically no way to assure integration on all levels and at the same rate as well as the lack of compatibility in systems with no pre-planned system in place. According to the Institute's 1998 report: " the inability of several adjoining police departments to communicate because of incompatible radio equipment and frequencies is commonplace.

Another factor that demonstrates "fragmentation' is the lack of staffing of an expert for evaluating technologies as well as the lack of defined standards for the equipment and technology of the law enforcement realm. According to the NIJ's 1998 report:

The police, on their own, have developed no national organization for this purpose. Criminal justice has no national regulatory agency. Crime laboratories are not required to undergo accreditation.

The whole issue of liability is a sobering issue... you can't underscore the importance of liability to any manufacturer of these products" according to Dr. Eric Wenaas the President and CEO of JAYCOR that is a leader in the field of manufacturing of police protection and technology products. Some examples of what is termed "liability concerns" listed in the National Institute for Justice 1988 report are as follows:

Pepper Spray: questions of the lethal aspects of pepper spray have given rise to lawsuits.

Technologies for detection of weapon possession have been the basis for lawsuits.

The "Big-Brother" concerns have effected the implementation of the Global Position System.

Also listed in the report are "impediments to marketing" as well as "impediments to product standard and testing" and "Legislative and judicial awareness."

VI. New and Emerging Developments in Technology:

The new technologies that are emerging through creations designed to guard the lives of police officers while in the line of duty are a diverse collection. The National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund has joined with Police One in a strategic alignment designed to address issues in relation to the safety of police officers.

The National Institute of Justice, division of Body Armor Standards and Testing, reports that the safety of the body armor has been assessed and that due to no existing acceptable standards created a new set of standards in relation to body armor for police officers. The testing of the body armor in defining the attributes and minimum performance criteria as well as seeking input from the industry, public safety and laboratory representatives was part of the NIJ effort in promulgating the "voluntary performance standards." Body armor has been designed that is bulletproof as well as stab-proof.

In a report published and written by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center/National Institute of Justice in 1998 entitled, Selection and Application Guide to Police Body Armor, it was stated that: The Office of Law Enforcement Standard (OLES) was established as a matrix management organization in 1971 through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Departments of Justice and Commerce for the purpose of application of science to technology to examine the needs of the law enforcement in relation to developing minimum performance standards. The areas, which were researched, were:

Clothing, communication systems vehicles, weapons, and analytical techniques and standard reference materials used by the forensic science community, emergency equipment, investigative aids, protective equipment, and security systems.

In a report entitled "Test Protocol for Comparative Evaluation of Protective Law Enforcement and Correction Applications it was stated that the purpose of the test was in the comparing of performance of protective gloves used by the officers. This is one example of the growing use of all types and manners of protection for police officers. The concerns of safety in this day and age are almost incomprehensible in the scope of the dangers that are faced by police officers while on duty.

Another innovation in police equipment is that named "TACNET." "TACNET" is "an in-vehicle command and control system designed to improve public safety, officer safety, officer efficiency and interoperability while dramatically reducing police car interior clutter." According to the report the implementations include "hands-free" technology through use of voice technology. (Visteon Corporation is described as a "leading full-service supplier that delivers consumer-driven technology solutions)

According to a report from Chicago, the police officers don't have to return to the station every time they need to check out mug shots in investigations. The mug shots, in a number exceeding five- million is now accessible through a data terminal that is wireless and portable which the officers carry with them. The units provide the officers a direct connection to I-CLEAR a "computerized data warehouse" that the officers can access to search for suspects by nickname, tattoo or country of origin as well as by vehicle identification information. A grant award in the sum of $9 million was provided by the Department of Homeland Security in the initiative. According to Ron Huberman, the Executive Director for Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications said, " the difference between the outdated computers already in squad cars and the new ones to be installed over the next year are like night and day."