Police Technology Research Paper

With advances in technology we see new and scary ways criminals commit crimes. With the introduction of cell phones and scanners years ago, criminals could listen to police radio traffic and see where and how we police were responding. No need for "look outs", technology became the look out. Now in the computer age we see crimes from identity theft and hacking into computers to steal personal and corporate confidential information to cyber stalking and sexual predating to cell phone cloning. Criminals have a whole new playground and the playground as technology advances. But technology is not just for criminals. Law enforcement agencies are using technology to make police work more effective and efficient. Also police and communities are also
In San Francisco, the transit police officers have been given a wireless live video feed. The Police officers are now able to see through live video feed what is going on in approx. 39 stations and 100 miles of track (San Francisco city website, 2007). Commander Gomes said, "This really is the next wave in police work" (San Francisco city website, 2007). He also said, "Wireless technology and intelligent video systems can offer law enforcement a powerful tool to use against criminals (San Francisco city website, 2007)." This new technology allows the video link to be viewed 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The live video feeds will also allow the law enforcement in the Bay area to use facial recognition to see potential criminals and also to look into the background of people that have issues with the law. Each officer will eventually have hand held devices to use during situations that may be dangerous to them. These hand held devices allow the police officer to see what is going on in the section of track or station that an incident has
One of the first reasons that come to mind is that they simply do not react to technology well. It takes them years to get acquainted and comfortable with using modern devices. Because of this police often find themselves trailing behind the offenders. Offenders who are skilled individuals committing acts of crime via computers, cell phones and other technologies.

The problem with modern technology is not solely concentrated on apprehending offenders; it also comes in play when trying to manage an organization using these new resources. Thanks to globalization the crime also became "globalized". It is much easier for the offenders to access places of interest physically and via internet to commit offenses.

This is where police communication comes into play and also its network awareness. Crime is becoming globalized and police departments need to be aware of matters it traditionally is not good at. Such things are the communication between departments, local agencies and agencies from other countries. Today, compared to past, we have many available communication resources to accurately transmit wanted data information. It is important that we use these resources whether it is within our own city limits or even between the