Balancing Personal Freedoms

Balancing Criminal Justice and Personal Freedoms

Balancing Criminal Justice and Personal Freedoms The use of technology has been extremely beneficial to all branches of criminal justice although the loss of privacy and personal freedoms has been somewhat dramatic. As technology has evolved fighting crime has improved. Technology is a part of every day life for everyone. According to Rebecca Blaine, the first fully programmable computer was created around 1936. Since that date inventors all over the world began to work on improving computers. As inventors began to improve computers technology has evolved tremendously (Blaine 2007). The basic computer which once typed and was able to hold a few documents has evolved to tracking the movements
If we can not depend on the government to attempt to protect all of our rights, including the rights to privacy they will not be able to depend on the members of the community. If the laws are shaped to balance the safety of the public against modern technological devices then enforced the public would feel more at ease with all the ways technology is being used today.
Information or technological devices which fall into the wrong hands should be prevented at all cost. The government should begin screening their employees a bit better and accountability should be more visible. If the public is aware of officers who are punished for illegal wiretapping, using satellite surveillance for personal gain, or tampering with evidence stored on computers they would feel more confident that their rights are being safeguarded. The public must know the government will not allow agents to violate privacy without very good reasons and if caught they are
Gaining the trust of the public would be a good start. Once the public realizes the use of technological devices is done so properly and according to the laws they will feel more at ease. The public must also take steps to safeguard their own privacy. For example, there are surveillance detectors available online for $99. A private investigator will sweep your house for surveillance equipment for a price. Using prepaid credit cards on the internet instead of your bank credit card is a way to protect yourself. Lobbying Congress for websites to not be able to display your personal information without permission is a means of protecting oneself. (Except for those who are registered sex offenders of course) Making sure your children are not in chat rooms where adult men and women can prey on them is a way to protect oneself from technological monsters. The public must not only depend on the government to protect their privacy but must also take the necessary precautions and steps to protect themselves. The government can only do so much and they have to take the safety of the public into consideration. The United States Patriot Act allows privacy to take a back seat due to national security reasons. Privacy should be protected but only to a certain point. If someone is violated but a terrorist act is prevented then so be it. The problem is law enforcement is