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Technology Affects Communications In Criminal Justice System CA/304 August 15, 2013 Technology Affects Communications in Criminal Justice System Law enforcement agencies must stay tuned to the technological advances. Many police departments still do not have the adequate funding to Implement computerizing of certain departments, which would excel if modernized. The law enforcement departments that have evolved into modernization have a more efficient workforce. Police departments have implemented the Criminal Justice Records System. According to
Wallace and Robertson, “Allow the police administrator to ascertain the nature and extent of crime within the agencies Jurisdiction. Provide a means for controlling the reporting and Investigation of crimes” (Wallace & Robertson, 2009. Peg. 173), through communication technology. Law enforcement agencies relay upon technology to assist with questioning or provide answers. Positive Effects of New Technologies on Communication The Colorado Police Department have been implementing new technology and emerging technology to aid local law enforcement with a technological edge to combat crime.
The implementation of communication technology Into the workforce dramatically enabled colleagues to communicate effectively as well as faster response time. According to David Roberts with the (CAP), technology, In a very sense, is transforming policing in fundamental respects. New and emerging technologies are playing an increasingly crucial role in the daily work of frontline police officers, equipping them with enforcement and investigative tools that have the potential to make them better informed and more effective (CAP, 2013). Police officers are equipped with Mobile Data Terminals (MET) in public safety vehicles.
The MET has access to multiple sources of Information. For example, According to the access to an expanding array of information including vehicle records (88 percent); driving records (81 percent); warrants (81 percent); protection orders (66 percent); interagency information sharing (60 percent); calls-for-service history (60 percent); and criminal history records (50 percent). ” Police departments who serve areas larger than (250,000) people are urged to transition to the automated system known as automated fingerprint identification system (AVIS).
Law enforcement officials have implemented video recording via helmet camera, or the dash camera in the patrol car. The technology to video record police officers in the field protects the police agency as well as the public. Police officers have reported faster response times between calls because of the communication technology. Law enforcement agencies encounter identity issues every day. For example, a police officer stops a pedestrian after curfew in a wealthy neighborhood. The officer asks the individual for his identification card, but the pedestrian does not possess an identification card.
The officer asks his name, birthday, etc. The pedestrian provides false information as well as in possession of narcotics. The officer arrests the pedestrian. When the pedestrian is booked in, and his record indicates the name provided was not his name as well as prior warrants for the pedestrian’s true identity. Identity theft is a major issue in the United States; police depend on technology to sort through the false information provided by the interviewee. The AVIS program alleviates majority of the confusion with false information. Law enforcement agencies also employ Facial recognition, and
Iris scan to identify the assailant’s identity. Without technology advancements in policing officers would have difficulty providing the same standard of services to the public. Facial Recognition Facial recognition first came about in the sass being implemented by departments in New York and Chicago by the turn of the 20th century (Police Technology, 2013). Facial recognition is geometrical video images received from various video surveillance cameras linked into a close circuit television (CATV). The local law enforcement agencies have a centralized location, which feeds directly into the police ATA system.
For example, on May 2, 2013 Chicago Police could apprehend the alleged criminal who committed an armed robbery months prior, due to facial recognition technology (Chicago Police, 2013). Police departments are limited on staff with the video surveillance constantly running, the program assist law enforcement agencies as a solid eye witness. The facial recognition technology has contributed to agency resources in apprehending an alleged criminal offender. Face recognition is a “noninvasive process where a portion of the subject’s face is photographed and the exulting image is reduced to a digital code” (Biometrics, 2013).
Disadvantage of Facial recognition is derived from a video camera, which makes the program acceptable to faulty imagery. The same issues everyone has with glare, clarity, and zoom in a regular camera. Iris scan Iris scans posses the same concepts as the facial recognition technology. The iris scan measures the iris patter in the colored part of the eye. The iris measurements matched faster and easier than fingerprinting. The iris scan is almost identical to the retinal scan. The retinal scan measures the amount of light bounced off the retinal, which measures light, and blood vessel patters in the eye.
According to Biometrics Technology, iris scanning can be used quickly for both identification and verification applications because of its large number of degrees of freedom. Disadvantages of iris recognition include problems of user acceptance, relative expense of the system as compared to other biometric technologies and the relatively memory-intensive storage requirements (Biometrics, 2013). In conclusion, facial recognition technology abides by the same concept as the Iris scan, Retinal scan, and fingerprint scan.
The technology takes measurements of key features of the human body to store in storage within a database for later reviews. Each scan takes the relevant information and transmits the information to the police database. Law enforcement agencies refer to the data for any matches when conducting a background check. The communication between the databases and the officers conducting the scans are acceptable to error, if negligence occurs when inputting search parameters, the suspect could provide false information. Technology is an aid to human civilization not the replacement.
Humans manage the technology so the database is not flawless. False information could be provided by an interviewee than positive identification becomes compromised (Police Technology, 2013). The new technology that appears to make the most impact in the criminal Justice system would be facial recognition, and iris scan. The two types of technological advances can pinpoint where someone has been, and all relevant information pertaining to a possible suspect. Technology affects communication both in a positive and negative way. The negativity derives from human error opposed to a flaw in the systems data.