The Challenges of Emerging Technologies in Policing
Dr. T. Douglas H.
33-year police officer, college professor, researcher, and author. Examination-determination of cold case homicides is my specialty.
Dr. Todd Douglas Hand
???? Technology continues to create advancements and problems.? Technology is of course change, and to navigate successfully one must embrace the change.? These events involving change are not new.? Mankind has been immersed in change since we first walked upon this earth and we will continue such until, or if, the end of time.?
???? In my opinion, technology has created both benefit and determent and the opinion?of productiveness?of such may well be centered upon one’s involvement in said technology.? Historically, police communication for the officer walking the beat was dependent upon the whistle then the Call Box, that was utilized by the officer to check in and transfer information.? With the onset of radio, officer safety, response time, and?transfer of effective information was greatly enhanced; however, to?think that this change in core responsibilities?were without disparagement, would be contrary to?our mortal behaviors.?
???? All of us complain, find fault, or are uneasy?in those things that we do not fully embrace, and technology is no exception.? With any event planned for a specific result, the prospect of unintended consequence looms.? From the innovation of Call Boxes to semi-automatic handguns, to DNA testing, all these technologies came with some negative implications.? Let us not forget that the advent of the automobile?began the demise of?the cop on the beat community policing, that we now continue to revive.?
???? Our existing and future emerging technologies in this profession will further test?the law enforcement profession's?public service tradition of open communication with the citizenry.?Such emerging technologies such as?Pred-Pol,?Brain-Wave?Fingerprinting, and?Google Glass?offer avant-garde development and pose possible detriment to constitutional safeguards and privacy concerns.?Pred-Pol?technology claims to forecast potential crime occurrences in specific locations;?Brain-Wave Fingerprinting?identifies stored information and echoes futuristic police investigative work?from the fictional novel?The Truth Machine?(Halperin, 1996); and?Google Glasses?record incidents for possible future law enforcement actions.?All these offer benefits and determents to?law enforcement and the public.?
???? Much of law enforcement's technology get its' start through military and scientific implementation, which can be realized as a benefit regarding initial problem solving for unintended consequences.? Technology challenges our profession today to remain cognizant to our basic core abilities of human contact and management by walking around.? We must embrace the change, but never lose our natural inclinations for face-to-face interactions.
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???? Included for your perusal are links to these emerging technologies:
References
Halperin, J. 1996.?The truth machine. New York: Random House
Retired LEO with a JD.
1 年Great thought provoking piece. We also need to look back at technology we use that provides bad data. For instance, polygraphs. They are junk science. Inadmissible in any court in the country. But we use them for pre-employment purposes and security maintenance (I.e. the FBI will polygraph agents who work in counter intelligence). Polygraphs are not evidence. So how can we think about not hiring someone otherwise fit for duty. Or a person missed a promotion because of a bad polygraph. I use this as an example of why we should not count our jet cars before the Jetson’s are totally happy with their performance. Food for thought. There ended the lesson…