Technology-Based Communication In The Criminal Justice System

In 1986, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act was passed. This gave law enforcement the power to use video surveillance technology. Ever since this was passed, surveillance cameras have saved many lives and helped solve many crimes. One example of this is the bombing of the world trade center. After the event, the FBI was able to use video surveillance to collect the evidence that was needed to convict someone who was involved in the heinous crime. It is possible that if not for the use of these cameras, this conviction may have never happened. This is just one of the many instances where surveillance cameras have been extremely useful in providing proof

What is a body worn video? A body worn video, also known as body camera is a video recording system that is typically utilized by law enforcement to record their interactions with the public or gather video evidence at crime scenes, and have been known to increase both officer and citizen accountability. The idea is that a video camera mounted on an officer 's vest or uniform would provide an accurate, objective account of every encounter with a civilian. Ideally, the camera would discourage police misconduct while protecting officers against unfounded civil complaints of brutality or corruption. While the use of body cameras may seem to invade the privacy of officers and the public, officers should wear body cameras because playing body cameras could improve, accountability, behavior, use of force, evidence, and processing and editing.

These cameras are good for police officers because it protects them individually but also as a whole group from unjustified accusations of misusing their power of authority. Plus, officers can use footage from their recording to properly fill out their written police report (Gillett). In the perspective of citizens, body cameras are suitable because they know if there is anything dishonest that occurs, they know it has been recorded on the police’s

As the author explains how the Long Beach police uses cameras statewide, the author states, “McDonnell has set up a system to tap into hundreds of privately owned cameras that are part of the city's streetscape. The new program synchronizes law enforcement data with real-time video feeds from parks, beaches, business corridors and even some retail centers,” (Source 2). In other words, Long Beach has installed cameras to record day and night throughout the city for the safety of the community. The security system will show live feed of the community recording and storing data, which can be accessed later to review any suspicious crime. For example, if an attack happened and no one was caught, police have the technology to review the crime scene and track the suspects afterward. Additionally, The Los Angeles Times credited journalist, Richard Winton disclosed, “The cameras are connected to a city operations center with computer terminals that can access an array of databases from the Justice Department, Department of Motor Vehicles and other agencies, allowing staff to chase down the slimmest of clues, such as a partial license plate in a bank robbery getaway,” (Source 2). As shown above, the camera system automatically saves the video evidence for police officers to access after a crime. The camera

In the past ten years, the law enforcement agencies to adopt the technology have been accelerating at an extremely rapid pace. Many police officers are making decisions about whether to use new technology that did not appear when they start their careers, such as the automatic license plate reader, the system of shot detection, facial recognition software, predictive analysis system, communication system that bring the data to the notebook computer, handheld devices, GPS applications and social media to investigate crimes and strengthen communication with the public.

One proposed theory in our criminal justice system, in my opinion, would be the importance of data collection when it comes to criminal activity. With today’s technology, our criminal justice system have better ways to collect data and are also able to determine the policies that best fit the crime. Our criminal justice law officials have been able to solve crimes by using collected data, from the crime scene and even collected from the offenders. Technology in today’s society has been able to pinpoint high crime areas and have been able to stop some criminal activity before it occurred. An example of our technology used in our criminal justice system would be the ankle monitors, used for criminals who have been released from prisons or

Information and communication technology has brought numerous admirations to law enforcement. A variety of things such as reconstruction of crimes scenes, and the sharing of evidence between agencies has altered the way police do business. New technology that is improving consists of crime mapping, computer-assisted training, geographic profiling, compstat, etc. Each of these provide several advantages to law enforcement their for improving the work they are doing. As new technology is created law enforcements officer are improving in their work because information and communication technology is making their jobs easier. Things that officer were once not able to do they can now do within minutes even seconds. An example would be crime mapping;

In this assignment I will be describing the current technology that is being used to help peace officers write their reports and I will also describe future technology products that I personally believe will be introduced to the law enforcement world which will help law enforcement officers with their reports.

Dash cams are cameras placed in front of the window in your car to get evidence of robbery, car accidents, vandalism, and more. These cameras catch a lot things from hilarious and weird to serious and despicable. They can be pointed towards the road or just to yourself. Dash cams are useful for police officers to catch criminals on a car chase. These cameras also come with a G- sensor and GPS logger. Now not only can you video but Dash cams can also keep a recording of your driving. This can help tons of problems.

Criminal Justice is a field of study based on withholding rights to those citizens who have broken the law. People of many different backgrounds are interested in the endless possibilities this field has to offer. Many jobs such as police, detectives, lawyers, parole officers, and even judges all make up part of the system. What all these occupations share in common is a large amount of time spent around felons and convicts, which in some instances can be a dangerous job to do. In some cases the lives of these men and women are at risk, so to protect and ensure the safety of both parties, precautionary measures are taken by implementing video surveillance.

The seventies became an age where video surveillance was used for everything from law enforcement and traffic control to divorce proceedings. England put up cameras in the Underground train stations as well as to monitor highway traffic flow. By the 1980’s, US businesses and banks adopted the practice, as the value of surveillance quickly took off. In the 1990’s, advancements grew with the creation of digital multiplexing, permitting multiple cameras to do recordings at the same time, as well as features like time-lapse and motion-only recording. These advancements revolutionized the surveillance industry (Wilkerson, 2005).

Any footage that is on a body camera that records a crime happening at that very moment, can be used in a court as evidence against the suspect. In some cases, if there was no footage to be shown there would be little to no evidence to convict the person of the crime and the suspect may be set free. Erica Baum, author of “5 Pros and Cons of Police Wearing Body Cameras” gave a great example regarding a study that was done at the University of Cambridge. The study found that when police officers are wearing their body cameras, the police and as well as the suspect was fifty percent less likely to use any type of violence. Body cameras can prevent incidents like the Ferguson case, when an African American male died due to a police officer using superfluous force and the entire incident was caught on the officer’s body camera. Unfortunately, every citizen does not trust body cameras due to the limitations of when the police can turn the camera on and off. Thus, lacking the credibility of the body cameras and if they may be potentially tampered

Computer technology has become a vital part in our everyday lives. The field of Criminal Justice is no exception. The use of computer technology is a necessity and can aid the Criminal Justice field in a variety of ways in the tasks they face on a daily basis. “Seasoned officers” could possibly be at a disadvantage to new computer technology or new devices, and maybe question if the new technology is really a necessity. With the ever changing world we live in and the extremes criminals go to commit crimes, using computer technology and other devices make responding to calls, making arrests, and solving computer crimes successful.

Technology is found everywhere nowadays and everyone relies on it to do their everyday tasks. Our world has become very computer and internet based, we revolve our lives around it. Yet it's not only just changed people's life at home, work is now becoming more and more involved with technology. Our criminal justice system is now based on the technology advances being made from what we used to have. Forensics is a key essential for crime investigation, and now, without the technology we would have a hard time convicting criminals. Imagine losing it all: no video cameras, no fingerprint analysis, no DNA analysis, no technology. All that would be left are eyewitness accounts if any, this goes to show how much our criminal justice system relies

The utilization of technology for law enforcement surveillance is not new. In the mid-1990s, dashboard cameras became a tool for catching real-time experiences between the police and the general public (Blake, 2015). In spite of early disapproval, dashboard cameras gained widespread acknowledgment as research showed constructive effects on officer responsibility as well as a decrease in agency accountability. Closed circuit (CC) surveillance systems have similarly turned out to be well-known as both a strategy for crime deterrence and as a tool for criminal inspections. Hundreds of departments tested the cameras and will buy, if you can pay hundreds of dollars for each device and the additional costs it would entail. The US President, Barack Obama, has submitted a plan of 75 million to help buy 50,000 police cameras (Gomez, 2015). There are both pros and cons of using this technology. The potential value of video proof has a downside, its inability to catch a specific event, might unreasonably hurt one side of an argument. An absence of video proof can also arbitrarily undercut an officer’s record (Gomez, 2015).