Use of Technology in Policing - Example

b Introduction Technological innovations on all fronts-including patrol cars, radio communications, public record systems, fingerprinting, toxicology (the study of poisons) and the use of forensics are increasingly becoming important elements in the prevention of crime. The world is becoming increasingly tech-savvy, so are crimes. The past few decades have seen advances in technology that most of us would never have foreseen. The computer chip has revolutionalized society. The criminal justice system and the police in particular have benefited greatly from this. Against this backdrop, the following essay will analyse the role that modern technology plays in the management and prevention of crime in the overall system of justice management. In this regard, the essay will focus, first and foremost on the nature and the characteristics of crime in the modern scenario that begets the use of technology in the long run. Second, in the context of modern crime, one would also look at techniques in details that help deal with crime on a day to day basis. As the world becomes more and more technologically inclined there will be more and more instances of criminals who have resorted to technology based methods for crime instead of the usual run of the mill methods (IPPE Crime paper). As more and more criminals begin to use technology for the achievement of their goals, and in order to avoid apprehension, there is the development of a need for individuals who can professionally analyze and utilize evidences stored on and transmitted through the usage of the computers. It would be useful at this juncture to define the term forensic examiner- a person responsible for the examination of evidences in the context of a legal dispute. This individual is able to deal regularly with crimes involving networked computers, wireless devices and embedded systems (IPPE Crime paper). This would brings together the specialized technical knowledge and investigative experience of many experts and creates a unique guide for forensic scientists attorneys, law enforcement and computer professionals who are confronted with digital evidence of any kind.   Use of technology for police work: Scope and future Pattavina (2005) outlines five future prospects that could be identified in the context of the future of IT applications to the criminal justice system. First, the advances in computer technology would continue to make information processing easier, faster and cheaper. Second, the criminal justice agencies would work to facilitate data sharing and continue to integrate systems. Third, new technologies that change the capacity to commit old crimes (by either supporting or deterring as well as creating opportunities for new crimes would be developed. Fourth, new technologies that would support the creation of new methodologies for dealing with criminal activity would be developed. Also, Innovative management strategies to successfully implement technology in police courts and corrections agencies will be developed. She further states that the one thing that would form a sure shot expectation from the convergence of IT in the system of crime and criminal justice would be that there will be increasing amounts of change going forward. As computing continues to become easy, cheaper and more powerful, along with increasing in convenience, the system of criminal justice will increase correspondingly regarding the information that is being collected, and stored pertaining to the lives of individuals, especially those that are involved in the system of criminal justice. Biologically there are databases that provide information on our physical attributes. These databases include DNA profiles and those that capture biometric measures that could provide information on who we are and what we look like, both inside and out. Economically, there are many databases that track our credit and spending habits. Behaviorally, there are agency databases that contain criminal histories, driving records and health records. Intelligence databases created from surveillance technology can even tell where we have been and what we have said. Given the amount of information that could be collected and stored on persons, there are there important challenges that one could again outline, with respect to the future of IT. Kenneth Baker explained the term information technology as the application of microprocessing to information handling and one of the effects of this application is bring about a convergence between previously separate disciplines and technology principally telecommunications data processing and office machinery (Forester, 1986). While the relevance of IT in policing might not immediately be clear the crucial principle at work here is that of convergence with a trend toward rationalization of systems. Where It is concerned, one would automatically be able to draw the importance and the advantage of automatic data processing which differs from the human mind in both speed and range of analysis. The use of IT in the system of policing can be through an enablement mechanism which is the vehicle through which the convergence and integrayon of systems can be achieved. The information and it strategies are part if the total strategy for change and like the overall plan for development they are intended to be corporate in the sense that they entail consultation, cooperation and investment (Manning, 2008). The broad categories of information, many of which are already computeriused will be managed into the framework according to priorities. In practical terms, the vision of the future forthis information strategy is for networked all-purpose work stations with grouped or integrated computing facilities that reflect the range of functions. Longer term projects particularly those that relate to the management of crime information through a sophisticated Crime Report Information System (CRIS) is also applicable (Forst and Manning, 1999). Internet Crime Newman and Clarke (2003) argue that situational crime prevention may offer a very effective strategy to address internet crime. With prevention as the major objective they argue that all we really need to understand are the specific situations that may contribute to crime. Using this model it is not important to know how much crime there is or even who is committing it to respond to the situation in an effective manner. They apply the elements of situational crime prevention to e-commerce crime define as the conduct of buying and selling in the new environment of IT. Their application to situational crime prevention to e-commerce crime is useful of examining the possibilities for the future of policing in a rapidly changing information environment. In fact situation crime prevention appears to be one of the few criminological theories that attempts to deal with policing challenges presented by advances in IT.  Use of technology in policing: Need Encryption is increasingly being used by cyber criminals and law offenders in digitally increasing evidence.  The other big challenge to the effectivity of digital evidences and forensic investigations is its legal admissibility. It would be essential to have someone on the search team that is trained to handle digital evidences, thus streamlining the presentation of the case and minimizing the defense opportunities to impugn the integrity of the evidence. There are also the needs to ensure that there is a the presence of standard operating procedures, continuing education and clear policies so that there is the maintenance of consistency and the contamination of evidences could be prevented. The biggest issue with respect to legal sides of forensics and digital evidence is with respect to its admissibility. In many cases evidence cannot be submitted given the fact that it was obtained without authorization (Johnson, 2006). Generally a warrant is required to search and seize evidences. The main exceptions are plain view, consent and exigency. If investigators are seeing evidence in plain view, they can seize it provided that they obtained access to the area validly. By obtaining consent to search, investigators can perform search without warrants, but some care needs to be still employed when obtaining consent to reduce the chance of the search being challenged in court. Even in instances where it has been accepted that the investigators are authorized to search a computer they must maintain focus on the crime under investigation. The proper action when evidence of another crime is discovers would be to obtain another search warrant for the crime (Bayley, 1996).   Authentication: Problem with admissibility of evidence The process of determining whether the evidence is worthy is called the process of authentication. This means in essence satisfying the court that the contents of the record have remained unchanged and that the information in the record does in fact originate from its purported source, whether human or machine and that the extraneous information such as the apparent date of the record is accurate. Casey, (2004) explains the process in better detail, in terms of the fact that with paper records it is the necessary degree of authentication that needs to be proved, while in case of digital evidences, given the fluid nature of the evidence, it is much tougher to prove the authenticity of the evidence in court. One would have to remember here that authentication is in essence a two-way process with an initial examination o the evidence to support determine that it is what its proponents claims and secondly, a closer analysis to prove its probative value. The problem here is that coming through clearly on the two fold test is often difficult for digital evidence given the fact that the defenses invariably end up casting doubts over the evidence given its malleable form and nature. There are also the assumptions related to computers that those presenting digital evidence need to contest with-computers can introduce errors and uncertainty in various ways making it tough to assess the trustworthiness of digital evidence meaningfully. Computer evidences obviously complicate reliability considerations given the fact that there are always multiple systems and mechanisms that are involved in these cases. Investigation in digital crime cases usually takes the help of softwares like EnCase and FTK. Of the two the former is the most often used method of data storage. EnCase is essentiality a software distributed by Guidance Software used by many LE and information security professionals. The EnCase integrated environment system means that the EnCase software acquires the evidence as a verifiable, proprietary bit-stream image mounts the image EF as a read only virtual drive and reconstructs the file system structure utilizing the logical data in the image. the idea is that an image preview would help in the long run given the fact that a preliminary look at the evidence storage media is warranted due to time constraints, like it happens in instances of on-site investigations. Unfortunately, in preview mode, the investigator is unable to save many of his findings. There are other formats that EnCase uses like the Case view, the keywords view, the bookmark view and the timeline view (Moley, Anderson, Collie and Vel, 2004). Overall the EnCase system is quite effective given the fact that it is a comprehensive (based on file system and media type) and integrated forensic tool that allows investigators to do some useful and basic forensic analysis. Its user interface is simple and easy to use and provides some useful some functionality. There are other tools like the FTK which interprets a variety of proprietary formats including Outlook.  Use of technology :problems The greatest issue that systems around the world face today is the fact that there is a severe shortage of man power and the number of skilled workers that could do justice to the intensive nature of the work that digital forensics requires. The first major aspect of the work is that there is a sizing of the activity that is required. The present point of concern is that there are no real skills and training facilities that would suffice in the supply of skilled professionals that are required for the job. There is an overall crisis in the middle, technician level skills and more than that mass-market training is also missing, the throughput of the high level courses is seriously inadequate and responsibility for action is fragmented across sector skills councils and other bodies, often with overlapping interests and usually with un-coordinated plans. The problem is recognised in the Police Sector Skills Foresight 2004 report: “With the notable exception of fingerprint experts, the implications on resources are a matter of development and deployment of appropriate levels of expertise, rather than a demand for increased resources.” Another big problem is the availability and the use of resources, given the oft cited paucity of funding for public works (Francis, Gregory and Briar, 1988) Computer Aided Dispatch: Dempsey and Frost (2009) provide a comprehensive overview of the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD). Before the computer revolution, the police communications system was slow and cumbersome. A citizen would call the police with a seven-digit telephone number. A police telephone operator would take the information, write it down on an index card and put the card on a conveyor belt, where it would travel to the dispatcher’s desk. The dispatcher would then manually search maps and records for the police car that covered the area from which the call originated and then call the car giving the officer all the information from the index card. Record were kept and managed manually. This changed with the introduction of the emergency telephone number system. The most recent available data indicates that 92 per cent of local police departments and 94 per cent of sheriff’s offices participated in an emergency system. CAD allows almost immediate communication between the police dispatcher and police units in the field. Numerous CAD system software packages are available for purchase by police departments, with typical CAD systems, after the emergency operator takes a call from the citizen in trouble, the operator codes the information into a computer and the information flashes immediately on the dispatcher’s screen. The CAD system prioritizes the calls on the dispatcher’s screen putting more serious calls above those that are less serious in nature. The system verifies the caller’s address and telephone number as well as determining the most direct route to the location. The system also searches a database for dangers bear the locations to which the officers are responding. DNA Analysis The use of DNA technology is rapidly closing the gap between unsolved crimes and closed cases. As proficiency in testing increases, cases will be solved more rapidly, allowing police detectives’ much-needed time to work on other cases. Lofland, L., and Kaminsky, S. M., (2007) explain in detail the importance and the relevance of DNA evidence at a crime scene. DNA evidence can provide detectives with scientific proof of physical contact between an assailant and a victim. Likewise, DNA tests can also be used for the elimination of a person as a suspect or in some cases it link crime scenes to the same perpetrator. DNA is an excellent tool for the prosecution, if it is used in the correct manner. While it is correct and I fact even necessary for one to understand the fact that just because someone’s DNA is found at a crime scene or even on or I the body of a victim, this would not signify in the most concrete manner that this was the person responsible for the crime itself. The location of DNA can, however help prosecutors figure out the chain of events that surrounded the crime scene. A combination of DNA evidence from a victim and another person found in places other than where the victim’s body was discovered could suggest a struggle at the location itself. ANPR Another important tool that is used by police at present is that Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), which is in essence a system of mass surveillance that makes use of the optical character recognition on images for reading the license plates that are present on most vehicles. The system itself could make use of either a device of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) or the road-rule enforcement cameras, either singularly or in combination in a manner which is either general or has been specifically designed for the effort. They are used by various police forces and as a method of electronic toll collection on pay-per-use roads and cataloging the movements of traffic or individuals. Problems Having stated the problems that are associated with digital evidences in forensic science, one can explain in some details the problems of importance and inadequacies are far as digital evidences are concerned. Given the ubiquity of digital evidence, it is a rare crime that does not have some associated data stored and transmitted using computer systems. a trained eye can usually use the data to glean a great deal about an individual, providing such insight. The greatest issue that systems around the world face today is the fact that there is a severe shortage of man power and the number of skilled workers that could do justice to the intensive nature of the work that digital forensics requires. The first major aspect of the work is that there is a sizing of the activity that is required. The present point of concern is that there are no real skills and training facilities that would suffice in the supply of skilled professionals that are required for the job. There is an overall crisis in the middle, technician level skills and more than that mass-market training is also missing, the throughput of the high level courses is seriously inadequate and responsibility for action is fragmented across sector skills councils and other bodies, often with overlapping interests and usually with un-coordinated plans. The problem is recognised in the Police Sector Skills Foresight 2004 report: “With the notable exception of fingerprint experts, the implications on resources are a matter of development and deployment of appropriate levels of expertise, rather than a demand for increased resources.”  Conclusion In conclusion, therefore one could reiterate the fact that over the years, there has been a gradual but consistent transformation in the use of technology for the system of crime prevention and justice location by security and police authorities. While the process itself has reached a phase where there has been a real time assimilation of technology in the manner of justice institution and assistance provision, the role of technology and its assimilation within the system has, by no means reached its hilt given the absence of trained manpower, the lack of awareness about its potential and the overall absence of the willingness to adopt this technology. What one could say in conclusion is that while technology does provide potential, current usage has reached about 40 per cent of potential utilization. Reference: Dempsey, J. S., and Frost, L. S., (2009). An Introduction to Policing. Cengage Learning Publishing. p462 Pattavina, A., (2009). Information technology and the criminal justice system. Sage Publishing. pp262-268 Newman, G. R., and Clarke, R. V., (2003). Superhighway Robbery: Preventing e-commerce crime. Cullompton, UK: Willan Publishing. pp42-57. Wiles J an Reyes A, 2007, The best damn cybercrime and digital forensics book period, pub, Syngess Books, p620  Johnson, A., (2006), Forensic computer crime investigation. CRC Press. p16. Casey. E., (2004). Digital evidence and computer crime: forensic science, computers. Academic press. pp169-175. Bunting. S., (2007) EnCase Computer Forensics, Includes DVD: The Official EnCE: EnCase Certified. Wiley Books, p72  Craiger. P., and Shenoi, S., (2007). Advances in digital forensics three. Springer Books Publishing. p194.   Lofland, L., and Kaminsky, S. M., (2007). Howdunit Police Procedure & Investigation: A Guide for Writers. Writer's Digest Books. p122. Francis, R., Gregory, F. E. C., and Briar, A., (1988). Information technology: the public issues. Manchester University Press ND. P154 Forester, T., (1986). The Information Technology Revolution. MIT Press Publishing. p220 Manning, P. K.,(2008). The technology of policing: crime mapping, information technology, and the rationality of crime control. NYU Press,. p258 Forst, B., and Manning, P. K., (1999). The privatization of policing: two views. Georgetown University Press.p129 Bayley, D. H., (1996). Police for the future. Oxford University Press. pp339-341 Police Technology. Retrieved February 24, 2011. < http://www.police-technology.net/id59.html> Read More