Technology and Law Enforcement Essay

Small wonder technological progresss are being utilized all over the universe. Jamaica included. to battle the flagellum of offense by discouraging felons every bit good as groking them after the act. Snow in his book posited that many leaders in jurisprudence enforcement today see engineering as the key to commanding offense and doing our communities safer ( 9 ) . Information Technology ( IT ) is defined. harmonizing to the Oxford Concise English Dictionary. as the survey or usage of systems. particularly computing machines and telecommunications. for hive awaying. recovering. and directing information. Technology is integrated into our mundane lives in countless ways. It is about impossible to travel through a twenty-four hours without interfacing with a technological or computerized device. Technology has been of such important benefit to our lives that it would be foolhardy of us to non research its utility in battling offense – a social job of monstrous proportions. Crime is an offense against an person or the province which is punishable by jurisprudence. Information Technology can play a portion in the battle through offense sensing. using steps in offense combat. and implementing systems for sustained offense direction. Information Technology can be competently used in the sensing of offense.

Biometricss. merchandise protection and closed-circuit telecasting ( CCTV ) are among the elements that can be utilized. Human existences can be unambiguously recognized based upon one or more intrinsic physical traits. Harmonizing to the Oxford Concise English Dictionary. Biometrics is the application of statistical analysis to biological informations. However. the concern is with engineerings that analyze human features for automatically acknowledging or verifying individuality in a context where the biometries is mensurable. The biometric features of an person can be either physical or behavioral ( Zhang 2 ) . Finger printing. face acknowledgment and DNA proving are a few of the ways biometries can be utilized. Zhang explains that biometric systems work utilizing registration and designation parts. The enrolment portion has a user’s features ready to be used as a standard. and the designation portion has the interface for verifying a captured terminal user’s features ( 8 ) . In 1984. Richard Ramirez. consecutive slayer and raper in Southern California. brought fingerprinting engineering to the head.

Richard. who subsequently became known as the “Night Stalker” . for a small over a twelvemonth. while he carried out his atrociousnesss. made attempts for the constabulary to grok him a futile exercising. The constabulary had. during the class of their probes. gathered fingerprints from the offense scenes. These prints. nevertheless. were of small value as it would take decennaries to compare them to the 1000000s on file if the constabulary had no known suspect. In 1985. an Automated Fingerprint Identification System ( AFIS ) changed all of the restrictions of fingerprint designation within a affair of proceedingss. The system was able to positively place the fingerprint as that belonging to Richard Ramirez and he was arrested the undermentioned twenty-four hours after his exposure was released to the imperativeness. The constabulary and populace had witnessed a real-life illustration of the value of utilizing hi-tech equipment in condemnable designation ( Snow 1-6 ) . Unlike fingerprinting. face acknowledgment has the advantages of being non-intrusive. natural and easy to utilize ( Jain 1 ) . Face images can be captured from a distance without touching the individual being identified. and the designation does non necessitate interacting with the individual. Additionally. face acknowledgment AIDSs in the offense sensing procedure as face images that have been recorded and archived can subsequently be used to place a individual of peculiar involvement.

The Los Angeles Police Department ( LAPD ) did a trial tally which was successful in capturing felons and take downing the offense rate ( Attir ) . Facial acknowledgment package was besides instrumental in Tampa. Florida where a immature girl’s kidnapper and liquidator was arrested based on footage caught on tape ( Attir ) . Despite their success nevertheless. ethical concerns have been raised as it relates to violations on single rights or instances of misguided individuality. The opportunities of doing errors with DNA. nevertheless. are about non-existent. Our organic structures contain over 45. 000. 000. 000 stat mis of Deoxyribonucleic Acid ( DNA ) – a molecule found in the cells of worlds. that makes us all really alone ( Farquart ) . Recent incorporation of DNA designation engineering into the justness systems of a turning figure of states has been fast and far making. Biological samples. recovered from offense scenes and single suspects. compared with archived Deoxyribonucleic acid profiles have become a major characteristic of patroling across Europe. North America and other parts ( Williams and Johnson 1 ) .

Like DNA. counterfeiting is going a major characteristic. Fortunately. nevertheless. engineering has the ability to do it a minor one. Merchandises are non immune to offense. Forgers and informal markets threaten to gnaw gross. interrupt supply ironss and tarnish trade names. Merchandise protection involves the usage of smart inks. holographs and water lines. In 2001. 95 million forgery points. with a value of two billion Euros. were seized in the European Union entirely. Security steps. for this ground. are popular throughout the branded goods industry. Smart inks offer the packaging stuff industry added protection against forgers. Using these particular inks. a figure of characteristics can be integrated into the packaging. A holograph is a exposure of an illation affair which. when appropriately illuminated. produces a three dimensional image. Holograms can be used by the packaging stuff industry to heighten their trade names as genuine and authenticated. As they are about impossible to double and bring forth by the mean condemnable. they are utile for merchandise trade name security every bit good. Closed-circuit Television ( CCTV ) is the usage of picture cameras to convey a signal to a specific topographic point. on a limited set of proctors. CCTV was foremost used in Britain in August of 1985 to counter lifting degrees of hooliganism on the city’s waterfront.

Less than a decennary subsequently. in 1993. some 39 towns had CCTV systems. By March of 1995. the figure was 90 and by August of the undermentioned twelvemonth. in surplus of 200 ( Goold 16-17 ) . The sensing of offense by CCTV involves the usage of security. monitoring and surveillance cameras. CCTV security cameras are the edifice blocks of any picture surveillance system. High shutter velocities. pixel declaration and memory capacity allow exposure to be taken when alerted by a gesture sensor or on a uninterrupted footing ( Outsourcing CCTV Monitoring ) . With gesture sensing. the camera package can be programmed to alarm security forces if motion is detected in certain countries at unauthorised times. Security cameras have in recent times been used in places to queer possible burglars. The presence of a camera means that illicit activity may be captured or recorded and used against them in tribunal. Monitoring and surveillance cameras besides contribute to the sensing of offense.

Often times. monitoring and surveillance responsibilities are covered by one camera with package dividing the maps. Kruegle states that instance histories have shown that the installing of video surveillance systems have produced a crisp diminution in shrinkage and employee larcenies. He said larceny was non merely confined to valuable belongings. but to information every bit good. Video surveillance systems successfully serve as a hindrance to such offenses in add-on to detection and groking culprits ( 2 ) . Having identified the being of offense. the occupation of offense combat now comes to the bow. Information Technology incorporates elements such as forensics. radio engineering and the usage of information in the battle against offense. Harmonizing to the Oxford Concise English Dictionary. forensic relates to or denotes the application of scientific methods and techniques to the probe of offense. Wikipedia defines forensics as “the application of a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines to reply inquiries of involvement to the legal system. ” This may be in relation to a offense or to a civil action. Forensicss integrates countries such as ballistic testing. Deoxyribonucleic acid databases and computing machine forensics. Ballisticss trades with the scientific discipline of missiles and pieces.

It encompasses the mechanics that deal with the flight. behavior and effects of missiles. for illustration. slugs. Equally of import is the piece and the analysis of its use in offenses. Ballistic analysis has been used by jurisprudence enforcement since the 1930s. Promotions in computing machine image declaration engineering over the past decennary. nevertheless. have brought ballistic fingerprinting into the head of offense analysis. In 1997. the FBI and ATF set up a national level-database called the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network ( NIBIN ) to maintain path of digitalized ballistic fingerprint of guns used to perpetrate offense ( Carter and Vasan 77 ) . In add-on to NIBIN. the FBI besides has a database in which DNA profiles are kept. This Deoxyribonucleic acid database is called the Combined DNA Index System or CODIS. Europe and South America have contributed samples to CODIS doing it compatible with the databases from these states. ( Kobilinsky. Liotti. and Oeser-Sweat 163 ) .

The United Kingdom besides has a National DNA database called NDNAD. At the terminal of 2006 it carried over 4 million samples and grows by 30. 000 samples each month with informations from offense scenes and suspects. Pattavina. in her book. noted that a National Institute of Justice ( NIJ ) funded survey conducted on the application of DNA databases. indicated that critical aid can be had from these systems in the apprehensiveness and prosecution of wrongdoers. The survey besides found that the usage of the database prevents 7. 8 offenses for each Deoxyribonucleic acid based strong belief. ( 14-15 ) . Computers are non immune to offense. Despite playing an active function in the analysis and storage of ballistic and DNA information. computing machines are themselves sometimes the beginning of condemnable activities.

Computer forensics is the “collection. saving. analysis. and presentation of computer-related evidence” ( Vacca 4 ) . White collar offenses. slaying. terrorist act. counterintelligence. espionage. counterfeiting and drug covering all can affect computing machines. One of three functions is played by the computing machine in a computing machine offense. It is either the mark of the offense. the instrument of the offense or. the grounds depository hive awaying valuable information about the offense. Vacca provinces that the aim of computing machine forensics is to retrieve. analyze. and present computer-based stuff in a manner that it is functional as grounds in a tribunal of jurisprudence ( 6 ) . Wireless engineering is besides preponderantly used in the battle against offense. Wireless engineering covers cellular phones. Global Positioning Systems ( GPS ) and Radio Frequency Identification ( RFID ) ticket in the battle against offense. With more people having cellular phones now than any other clip in history. these are the people we need when a offense occurs. Black states that the Oregon State Police received twice the figure of calls from cellular phones in 2006. than they did in 2000. which they attribute to more people transporting cellular phones.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in his province of the metropolis reference that the metropolis programs to put in new engineering so that 911 call Centres can have digital images and picture sent from cellular phones. Cellular phones have been instrumental in work outing offenses in other parts of the universe. Police in London used cellular phone images to place aggressors in the London bombardments in July 2005 ( Reardon ) . Global Positioning System ( GPS ) . another radio engineering. has joined the battle against offense. Minutess after Thomas Frisks had robbed a bank in Spokane. Washington. constabulary arrested him and recovered $ 37. 920 he had stuffed in a duffle bag bag. Unknown to him. the bank Teller had given him a GPS tracking device hidden inside the package of measures. Upon having presentment of the robbery. the constabulary activated the GPS tracking plan on their computing machines. They were instantly notified of the money and the robber and moved to grok him.

Polices were besides able to retrieve a missing truck. equipped with GPS that had stolen graphics. Lieutenant Tim Stewart of the North Texas Auto Theft Task Force reported that more than 50 truck tractors and 75 dawdlers were recovered in short order utilizing merely a few GPS/cellular integrated systems ( Snow 141-142 ) . RFID on the other manus. harmonizing to Hunt. A. Puglia. and M. Puglia. is non as popular in the United States. Adoption of the engineering for jurisprudence enforcement applications has slowed in development due to privateness concerns and ignorance on its potency for jurisprudence enforcement. Nevertheless. the United Kingdom has been more aggressive in developing and deploying RFID applications in constabulary operations ( 71 ) . Hunt. A. Puglia and M. Puglia. define RFID as “a radio communicating engineering that is used to unambiguously place labeled objects or people” ( 1 ) . The offense contending potency of RFID is merely get downing to emerge. Combined with engineerings such as GPS and biometric designation. RFID can supply constabulary bureaus “with new and powerful technological tools to work out crimes” ( Hunt. A. Puglia and M. Puglia 74 ) .

The usage of information incorporates information sharing. the Internet. and informations excavation. Many states with multiple jurisprudence enforcement bureaus have information local to their section that would be valuable in the battle against offense. Such information should be disseminated and shared to greater increase the cooperation among bureaus and public cognition where offense combat is concerned. Information sharing gained popularity after the 9/11 Commission Hearings. It stemmed from the deficiency of response on the portion of the United States authorities to cognize information about the planned terrorist Acts of the Apostless on the World Trade Centre prior to the event. Information is power. more in constabulary work than in other domains of activity. The Internet is likewise another beginning of information for contending offense. A murdered Chicago dermatologist’s household did non go forth it to the constabulary to prosecute a possible suspect. The household of the deceased posted a surveillance camera of a blood-spattered immature adult male hotfooting from the edifice. Police and victims of offense are on a regular basis utilizing social-networking web sites such as MySpace. as hi-tech versions of “wanted” postings. Police bureaus have for several old ages monitored MySpace. YouTube. Facebook. Xanga and other popular sites to break sexual marauders.

Polices in Franklin. Massachusetts. posted a picture on YouTube of two work forces allegedly utilizing a stolen recognition card at Home Depot. Their co-workers in nearby Bellingham. Mass. . reported they were after the same work forces. and matched the faces with jail-booking exposures. Data excavation in the same manner trades with information but from a different angle. Law enforcement bureaus. with the current accent on terrorist act. are faced with the dashing undertaking of sifting big sums of information in order to do informed determinations. Data excavation serves as an machine-controlled tool that uses advanced techniques. including unreal intelligence “to to the full explore and qualify big informations sets affecting one or more informations beginnings. placing important. recognizable forms. tendencies. and relationships non easy detected through traditional analytical techniques alone” ( Gooch 1 ) . Law enforcement forces utilizing informations excavation for the intent of analysis. can associate incidents. offenses or alterations in offense tendencies to other events in doing deployment determinations. Equally of import is the demand to implement steps for sustained offense direction. Information Technology in the direction of offense incorporates such elements as hallmark. electronic monitoring and. informations interception and keeping.

Factors for the procedure of hallmark are by and large classified into three categories. They are something the user has. something the user knows. and something the user is or does. Any procedure that verifies person or something as being reliable is known as hallmark. Kent and Millett define it as “the procedure of set uping assurance in the truth of some claim” ( 33 ) . Authentication covers offender tracking. voice acknowledgment and fingerprint analysis. Emphasis will be placed on the built-in factor. something the user is or does. President Bush signed a measure on July 27. 2006 that established a national sex wrongdoer register. It enabled citizens anyplace in the United States to happen out if a individual is a known sex wrongdoer. Despite the fact the register provides the individuality. reference and workplace of the wrongdoers. the constabulary do non ever know where they are. For illustration. though sexual marauders may be forbidden to see certain locations. such as schools or resort areas. as a status of their release from prison. the constabulary can non make anything unless they catch them in the act.

Information Technology. in the signifier of wrongdoer trailing. has now given the constabulary a new tool which they can use to “monitor the motion of these highly unsafe individuals” ( Snow 140 ) . Highly unsafe persons can now be nabbed by the sound of their voice. The Computer Voice Stress Analyzer ( CVSA ) is a “voice-based fact-finding truth confirmation tool. ” Nine twelvemonth old Rowan Ford’s slayers underwent CVSA scrutinies after their polygraphs scrutinies were determined to be inconclusive. As a consequence of the precise consequences of the CSVA scrutinies. both slayers were charged with first-degree slaying and colza. Fingerprint Analysis uses computing machine algorithms to find similarities between a physical print and one stored in a database. Analysis is executed on multiple degrees where algorithms are foremost compared to the prints to find the type. and so later to find extra inside informations until a lucifer is found. The FBI fingerprint system boasts an truth rate in surplus of 98 % ( Lichanska ) . With their alone qualities. it is easy understood how fingerprints can be used to pull off offense.

In add-on to hallmark. electronic monitoring is another facet of offense direction that warrants geographic expedition. Electronic monitoring includes surveillance systems. Geographic Information Systems and radio frequence monitoring devices. These facets of electronic monitoring are similar to those covered in offense sensing as both offense sensing and bar sometimes employ like techniques. The Oxford Concise English Dictionary defines surveillance as the close observation. particularly of a suspected undercover agent or condemnable. Under the umbrella of electronic monitoring. such observation would be carried out electronically and is usually done with the usage of CCTV. Law enforcement finds surveillance utile as it enables them to keep societal control. acknowledge and supervise menaces. and prevent condemnable activity.

Alun Micheal. Minister of State in England proffered the following on CCTV: The advantages of CCTV. decently managed. talk for themselves: offense bar. the deterrent consequence of cognizing that there is observation. the alertness of constabulary at an early phase to halt unsafe state of affairss intensifying. the operational aid to the constabulary in sizing up a state of affairs. the safer strong beliefs that can be obtained – the nest eggs in tribunal clip can be tremendous – and. above all. the fact that people’s assurance is renewed. which has led to many town Centres being revitalised. Vulnerable groups in peculiar experience the advantage. ( qtd. in Goold 1 )

Geographic Information Systems ( GIS ) likewise assists the constabulary with offense direction. As most offense informations have a specific location. all types of informations. including registered sex wrongdoers. suspects and offense locations can be added to a map. Having identified spacial forms. jurisprudence enforcement resources can be efficaciously deployed for offense analysis and bar. For illustration. jurisprudence enforcement can prioritize locations for activities such as drugs or harlotry stings based on where those offenses as most prevalent. In “Geographic Information Systems and Crime Analysis in Baltimore County. Maryland. ” Philip Canter states that GIS can be used as a tool to place lending factors to offense. therefore leting constabularies to proactively react to state of affairss before they become debatable ( 156 ) . Proactive response can besides be had from radio frequence monitoring devices. These supervising devices enforce a curfew on wrongdoers and. proctors whether or non they are home at the needed times. The system works through a sender worn on the mortise joint and a receiving system connected to the land line telephone of the wrongdoer. Electronic contact is maintained with the receiving system at all times and the governments are alerted if the wrongdoer strays excessively far. ( Kardasz ) .

In the same manner informations entree can be detected. it can besides be intercepted. Data interception and keeping involves spying. wire tapping and informations keeping. In the last nine months of 2006. Lomas reports the United Kingdom’s ( UK ) spying watchdog revealed that it received 253. 000 petitions to listen in on an individual’s communications. Harmonizing to Lomas. 100s of UK public organic structures are authorized to stop communicating for the intent of offense bar and sensing. Lomas quoted the communications commissioner as stating “this extremely intrusive investigative tool” has “contributed to a figure of striking successes” in battling offense and terrorist act as. it played a critical function in the conflict against serious offense and terrorist act that could non be achieved by any other agencies. Spying agencies to look into or look around on the sly in an effort to happen out something. Another unnoticeable agencies of obtaining information is that of wiretapping.

The U. S. Congress passed the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ( CALEA ) in 1994. CALEA was passed in an attempt to help jurisprudence enforcement’s thrust in carry oning condemnable probes necessitating the tapping of digital telephone webs. Wiretapping. though usually associated with telephones. can include other signifiers of electronic communicating such as electronic mails. facsimiles. and data transportations as a consequence of promotions in engineering. This method of informations interception can turn out to be a really powerful tool. leting jurisprudence enforcement to observe condemnable confederacies and show the information as difficult grounds. Wiretapping tools are particularly advantageous as the communicators have no manner of cognizing they are being intercepted ( Cheung ) . Equally of import is Britain’s passing of Torahs in 2006 to help its jurisprudence enforcement functionaries. Data keeping Torahs. necessitating telecom operators to hive away phone and cyberspace informations. were passed with the purpose of helping in the battle against terrorist act and organized offense. Hermida. Technology Editor for the BBC News web site. quoted Home Secretary. Charles Clarke emphasizing the importance of the steps.

Clarke said “agreement on retaining communications informations topographic points a critical tool against terrorist act and serious offense in the custodies of jurisprudence enforcement bureaus across Europe. ” He added that “modern criminalism crosses boundary lines and seeks to work digital engineering. ” and that an of import measure was taken in presenting to citizens across Europe. a right to populate in peace from “the negative impact of terrorist act and serious crime” ( Hermida ) . Data keeping refers to the storage of electronic communicating records which includes call record inside informations. Internet traffic and dealing informations. As a underdeveloped state with a ill-famed record for offense and force. Jamaica has given information engineering a function to play in hiking its offense combat capacity.

Former Minister of National Security. Senator Colonel Trevor MacMillan. launched CCTV monitoring system in the towns of Mandeville and May Pen. The curate stated that “the broad graduated table usage of modern engineering will be polar in turn toing the offense job blighting the state. as out-of-date methods have proven to be uneffective. and will hold to be shelved” ( Ministry of National Security ) . Improvements are besides being made to the government’s Forensic Laboratory’s engineering to cover with the expected addition in DNA trial petitions under the lastest anti-crime enterprise. Plans to set up a Deoxyribonucleic acid database was announced by the Prime Minister to help the constabulary in convicting felons. The usage of engineering. albeit bound. is a measure in the right way to free Jamaica of offense.

Information engineering has drastically changed the attack of jurisprudence enforcement to offense combat. Advanc Es in engineering has improved. and in other instances. wholly revolutionized the methods used in the countries of observing. combat and managing offense. Biometricss. merchandise protection and CCTV have made an unerasable grade on the sensing capablenesss of offense. Equally of import is the profound impact on the combat of offense. In this respect. information engineering makes first-class usage of forensics. radio engineering and information. Finally and ineffaceably is the function of information engineering in direction of offense. Authentication. electronic monitoring and informations interception and keeping have made blatant inroads in the sustainability of offense direction. Information engineering in its assorted functions continues to take its byte on offense spot by spot.

Plants Cited
Attir. Heidi. Professionals and Cons: The usage of Facial Recognition Software in Crime Prevention. 22 August 2008. 17 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. associatedcontent. com/article/949847/pros_and_cons_the_use_of_facial_recognition. hypertext markup language? cat=15 & gt ; . Black. Kate. Prevention Works: Can Your Cellphone Help Fight Crime. 29 May 2008. 19 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //ncpc. typepad. com/prevention_works_blog/2008/05/can-your-cell-p. hypertext markup language & gt ; . Carter. Gregg. Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. 2006. Contributors. Wikipedia. Forensic Science. 16 April 2009. 19 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Forensic_science & A ; oldid=284292758 & gt ; . Farquart. Digby. DNA Criminal Investigation. Crime Prevention and Detection. 18 January 2007. 18 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //ezinearticles. com/ ? DNA-Criminal-Investigation. -Crime-Prevention-And-Detection & A ; id=422683 & gt ; . Gooch. Teresa. Data Mining and Value-Added Analysis. November 2003. 18 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_11_72/ai_111496582/ ? tag=content ; col1 & gt ; . Goold. Benjamin. CCTV and Policing: Public Area Surveillance and Police Practices in Britain. Cary: Oxford University Press. 2004. Hermida. Alfred. “UK rapped on informations keeping jurisprudence. ” 24 Febraury 2006. BBC. 21 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/technology/4744304. short-term memory & gt ; . Hunt. V. A. Puglia and M. Puglia. RFID: A usher to Radio Frequency Identification. Hoboken: Wiley-Interscience. 2007. Jain. Anil. Handbook of Face Recognition. New York: Springer-Verlag New York. LLC. 2004. Kardasz. Frank. GPS Tracking of Internet Sex Offenders – Mapping Wireless Hotspots and Beyond. 20 January 2009. 20 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. kardasz. org/blog/2009/01/gps_tracking_of_internet_sex_o. hypertext markup language & gt ; . Kasindorf. Martin. Websites Host Wealth of Crime-Solving Clues. 4 February 2007. 19 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. usatoday. com/tech/news/2007-02-04-myspace_x. htm & gt ; . Kobilinsky. Liotti. Oeser-Sweat. Deoxyribonucleic acid: Forensic and Legal Applications. Wiley. 2004. Kruegle. Herman. CCTV Surveillance. Burlington: Butterworth-Heinemann. 2005. Lichanska. Agnieszka. Fingerprint Analysis. 2008. 20 April 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. espionageinfo. com/Ep-Fo/Fingerprint-Analysis. hypertext markup language & gt ; . Lomas.