Free Essay Sample on Tech Revolution: Enhancing Law Enforcement for Safety and Efficiency

Introduction

As many sophisticated crimes are being committed using technology, the demand for improving law enforcement technology is going up. Technology is being used by law enforcers to combat crimes. To ensure public protection and safety, the criminal justice department needs to start using tracking systems, and cutting-edge software, among others (Pulley, 2016). The study focuses on technology adoption in the police force and the various impacts they will bring to the agency’s mission after being implemented.

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Police Patrols Technologies

Police patrols perform a vital role in ensuring public safety by responding to incidents, and preventing, and deterring crimes. Therefore, with their role, a need to implement more advanced technologies will help them respond quickly to crime scenes and combat crime more efficiently. The first technology that will improve police patrol capabilities is gunshot technology like ShotSpotter, which can detect gunfire and convey the information directly to the police (Carr & Doleac, 2016). The technology aids the police in getting quick access to the shooting area of the incident by detecting gunfire. The technology also provides more information on the number of shooters present and the number of shots fired.

There is a need to install the ShotSpotter on patrol vehicles since, with this kind of information, the police can arrive on time at the crime scene before more people get hurt. The ShotSpotter is said to detect over 90% of gunfire incidents and is also said to relay information in the shortest time possible i.e., not more than 60 seconds, which implies the response time will be improved with this new technology (Carr & Doleac, 2016). The technology has also been beneficial in tracing criminal shooting movements making it easier to apprehend them in the shortest time ever to minimize damage.

The other technology that can be used in patrol vehicles is GPS (global positioning systems). GPS plays a vital role in aiding the officers to locate criminals and get to crime scenes quickly. The technology also aids the entire department in managing the police forces and ensures more coverage of a specific area (Michael et al., 2006). With GPS, data gets made more robust since the service location gets included in the report. In that regard, it is clear that the police's service delivery will be improved (Michael et al., 2006). Other technologies that can be adopted for patrol vehicles include surveillance cameras, which provide better insight for the offices, and in-car computers, which aid the officers in uploading their reports more efficiently and backup them in case of any theft or damage to others.

Non-Lethal Weapons and Their Importance

Non-lethal weapons are also referred to as lee-than-lethal weapons, pain-inducing weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, and less-lethal weapons. These kinds of weapons, unlike firearms and knives, are intended to kill less living targets. The non-lethal weapons are said to minimize any risk occurrence (Dando, 1996). Some non-lethal weapons that can be added to the arsenal agency weapons include pepper spray guns like the mace pepper spray guns. The weapon resembles a flare gun and can be used to put off attackers by just the look of it. The UV dye can be used for identifying any fleeing attacker. It can help law enforcers trace the attacker(s) and keep them off the streets before they can cause more harm (Dando, 1996).

The importance of using these guns is that they can engage multiple attackers. The spray is intended to irritate the sinuses and eyes of the attacker, thus causing less damage. The effects caused by the spray are temporary and can help the officers get hold of the attackers quickly while still alive (Dando, 1996). The other advantage is that these guns are inexpensive yet very effective. They are small and thus can be carried easily.

The other non-lethal weapons that can be added are the CEDs (conductive energy devices), commonly known as Tasers. The guns fire 2-small electrodes before releasing a high-voltage shock (Dando, 1996). The shock is meant to temporarily disable the attacker, allowing the police to deal with the potentially violent individuals at a distance. Taser has some advantages, such as they minimize injuries to both law enforcers and suspects. When used appropriately, this technology can be used to curb crimes and reduce the mortality rate.

Investigation and Operational Technologies

There are also various emerging technologies that investigators can make use of to make their work more accessible and more efficient. Some of the current technology includes the use of 3D imaging. The technology aids the officers in having a clear scan of the crime scene. It enables more information to be drawn from the scene (Raneri, 2018). The images provide also actual information that conventional methods would not reveal. The technology gets used to make various analyses like map bloodstain evidence and determining bullet trajectories, among others. Using this technology will also aid save time that officers would take investigating a particular crime.

Rapid ID systems are yet another technology that can be used in law enforcement. The technology allows the officers to have quick access to the driver's information. It will enable the officer to check the information at any stop (Bennett & Lyon, 2008). The technology aids the officers in verifying an individual's identification via the online database for those who may not have their driver's license or identification card. The system contains biometric information; thus, any criminal can be identified using their fingerprints. It is very efficient, thus allowing officers to identify any criminal on the spot.

Impact of the Selected Technologies

Technology advancement is said to bring significant changes to the agency. With the new technology, the officer's safety will be guaranteed, and the agency's productivity and efficiency will also increase. Taking the case of ShotSpotter technology, it proactively handles gun violence instances (Carr & Doleac, 2016). In the use of firearms, the suspects get shot dead, which results in not getting collected. Society develops the notion that police careless about their lives. However, with the use of the ShotSpotter, the police response time will improve, thus minimizing the damage caused by the attacker(Carr & Doleac, 2016). By using technology, society will regain its trust in the police force, thus improving the society-police relationship. ShotSpotter is also less expensive.

GPS is also a technology that has a significant impact on the agency. The technology improves the response time since it aids tract attackers within the shortest time possible. It also plays a vital role in ensuring a particular area under threat is fully covered. It aids in resource and records management, too (Michael et al., 2006). Tasers and pepper spray guns significantly impact the law force in that they minimize the crime rate while ensuring people's safety. The mission of all enforcement agencies is to protect the community from deadly attackers; therefore, using non-lethal weapons, which cause less destruction, will ensure public safety (Dando, 1996). 3D imaging and Rapid ID systems also make the investigation process more efficient and time-saving (Bennett & Lyon, 2008). In the police force, every minute counts; thus, incorporating these time-saving technologies will significantly improve the operation process. The techs are all aimed at protecting both the officers and the public.

Conclusion

From the above illustration, it is evident that technology plays a vital role in the law enforcement agency. As technology keeps advancing, so do crimes, thus a call for more recent technology to aid in curbing emerging crimes. The technologies mentioned earlier are thought to be the most effective since they contribute much is offering security to the public while maintaining less damage. Adopting the use of the technologies will thus make the agency more efficient.

References

Bennett, C. J., & Lyon, D. (Eds.). (2008). Playing the identity card: surveillance, security, and identification from a global perspective. Routledge. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zXEybH11mokC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=Rapid+ID+systems++technology+used+in+the+law+enforcement&ots=G_vUFus9Wy&sig=tEXVg-w68oUU8TRPj32XFscsayQ

Carr, J., & Doleac, J. L. (2016). The geography, incidence, and underreporting of gun violence: new evidence using ShotSpotter data. Incidence and Underreporting of Gun Violence: New Evidence Using Shotspotter Data (April 26, 2016). http://www.hoplofobia.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Carr_Doleac_gunfire_underreporting.pdf

Dando, M. R. (1996). A New Form of Warfare: The rise of non-lethal weapons. https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/handle/10454/6265

Michael, K., McNamee, A., & Michael, M. G. (2006). The emerging ethics of humancentric GPS tracking and monitoring. http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10215&context=infopapers

Pulley, R. (2016). Law Enforcement and Technology: Requiring Technological Shields to Serve and Protect Citizen Rights. Wake Forest JL & Pol'y, 6, 459. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/wfjlapo6&section=18

Raneri, D. (2018). Enhancing forensic investigation through the use of modern three-dimensional (3D) imaging technologies for crime scene reconstruction. Australian Journal of forensic sciences, 50(6), 697-707. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00450618.2018.1424245