Law Enforcement Technology

Law Enforcement Technology

Introduction:

Since the beginning of times, the US forces have been subjected to detection and apprehension of crimes, including drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other small scale crimes too. Crime prevention is one of the major aims of the state, which is assisted by the modernization in information and technology, thus making the process of detection and eradication of crime easier. Since the last decade, telecommunication s and technology has been growing at an unprecedented rate, thus assisting the law enforcement agencies in the collection, storage, analysis and sharing of date in an orderly manner.

The advancements in technology have therefore been a valuable tool in transmission and collection of data, thus bringing about catalytic changes in the field of law enforcement and encouraging positive changes at the same time.

Discussion:

Development in information and technology since 1990:

In 1990's, the pace of development started growing at an unprecedented rate, due to the development of the internet and launching of various communication satellites, which made communication and transmission of information much easier than ever before. Another important milestone that contributed much to the advancements in IT and assisted in law enforcement was the development of Geographic Information System (GIS). Computer crime mapping has also played its part in assisting the process and serves as an indispensable tool in crime prevention technology (Gottschalk, 2006).

In the early 1990's, the main frame computers were unable to provide advanced and sophisticated assistance in crime detection and analysis, and therefore were of little help in crime prevention. However, in the succeeding years, the above mentioned technologies were developed that are not only user friendly but also are affordable, even for small budget police departments.

Information technology integration has been the second major step in the development of law enforcement technology, and makes the electronic sharing of all the ...