Policing in America: As Compared to the

Policing in America: As compared to the 1920's, policing in the United States has had to change over the years in order to cope with the numerous changes in the society. Most of these changes have occurred during the 20th Century because of the rapid technological advancements and globalization. During this period, telephones, car ownership, and use of personal computers have become commonplace in the society. While these are positive changes, they have also contributed to significant changes that are sometimes negative in relation to law enforcement.

With the innovations of computers and telecommunication technologies in America, the police force and other criminal justice practitioners has really improved in terms of opportunity and challenges. These technologies have empowered the police force in the sense that they can now collect, store, study, and share records with stakeholders within and outside administration. The innovations of these technologies have created opportunities in the law enforcement that would assist in achieving its broadened and increasingly difficult duty.

Several orders were brought forward to assist the law enforcement in restructuring itself including policies that would govern the police during work. This was designed to warn police through the management systems, inspections, internal assessment and research against false accusations. They have also enabled the police to get acquainted with the right information that was to be shared amongst other governmental agencies, insurance companies, and other businesses.

The use of personal computer is one of the technologies that has enhanced the success and competence of storing and processing of huge volumes of data in the police administration. This has lessened the work of the police especially when they are conducting any investigation since they can scrutinize the criminal records and related data stored in the computer. It is through this data that criminals get to know of their fate.

On the other hand, when the computer is not properly taken care of, the stored data might not be the correct and this might create conflict among police officers and other staff, which results in negative impacts. Information technology has worked successfully in the U.S. through enabling law enforcement to ensure that whatever information they present before the court of law is relevant. This is realized through a proper planning and coordination from various departments in the police force.

In this system, the police have also been able to store and share data electronically leading to time saving and also operating electronically. Here, the data that is mostly dealt with include public defense, trials, and federal courts amongst others (Reichert, 2001). However, technological developments have also had negative impacts on law enforcement since it has resulted in new ways of committing crime and linking various criminals.

An example of new criminal methods that have made it difficult for the law enforcement agencies to effectively reduce crime is the emergence of cyber crime. Criminals are now using these technological developments to invent new methods of committing offenses. Furthermore, technological developments also contribute to the availability of excess information that is probably a hoax that is geared towards tricking people.