Criminal Justice and Technology Discussion
Nowadays, in the era of innovative technologies, a lot of the state life areas demand the new approaches concerning the issue of the technology use. The US police departments are not an exemption to this tendency. However, the researches show particular complications in determining the efficiency of such innovations. Thus, technology generally positively assists the law enforcement, although still, some negative consequences may appear in the form of civil rights encroachment.
To start with, it is worth indicating the list of the most frequently used law enforcement technologies aimed at increasing the general performance. According to Koper, Lum, Willis, Woods, and Hibdon (2015), there are five types of technologies – systems of information technology, crime analysis, license plate readers, videos (in-car) and DNA analysis (p. 48). At the same time, one should understand that the technologies use could not radically change the police performance. “Technology does appear to generally increase perceptions of monitoring and accountability in police agencies, but it does not as consistently increase perceptions that the agency is better managed” (Koper, Lum, Willis, Woods, & Hibdon, 2015, p. 86). In this context, it is not a right kind of approach to rely on the technologies as the crucial force to strengthen the law enforcement conduct. At the same time, some negative consequences may appear while using the technologies. For example, in the case of the inappropriate police use, a body-worn camera can be recognized as a tool of interference in the person’s private life. Consequently, one of the fundamental civil rights is broken. That is why it is necessary to provide an exhaustive guide of use before implementing any kind of technology.
To sum up, technologies can greatly assist the police officers, although their use does not radically change the overall performance. Anyway, it is crucial to understand the necessity of determining the area of the technologies application in order to prevent the violation of the civil rights.
Works Cited
Koper, Christopher S., et al. “Realizing the potential of technology in policing: A multisite study of the social, organizational, and behavioral aspects of implementing policing technologies.” Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (George Mason University), December 2015. Web. 11 March, …
