Term Paper on "How Technology Is Currently Affecting Law Enforcement Communications and Records"

Term Paper 8 pages (2126 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Law Enforcement

How Technology Is Currently Affecting

Law Enforcement Communications and Records

This paper aims to show how law enforcement has been both positively and at times adversely affected by technology. Unfortunately, the cost of crime fighting is high. It is often the case that large urban or well funded communities do not have the necessary funds they need to purchase and implement the newest cars or the most effective night vision scopes. Small departments are usually even more under funded as well as under manned so they miss out on technological breakthroughs. As our world has become more technologically advanced, both big and small law enforcement departments have been pressured to implement new techniques and technologies in the constant battle against crime. With those pressures come the demands of upgrading equipment as well as the need for better educated and well trained human resource aspects of departments. "In fact, law enforcement agencies as a group do not possess the buying power to encourage manufacturers to research and develop products their officers need at prices they can afford." (Boyd, 1995)

Why the need for technology typical police department in America has become an extremely busy place. In most cases, just the basic 911 traffic is overwhelming. In the City of Richmond for example, there were over one million 911 calls in the year 2001. "This division received 907,000 E-911 calls and 366,000 wireless 911 calls during 2001 and dispatched 347,584 police calls for service and 26,282 fire calls for service." (Division of Emergency Communications, 2004) Obviously, in a case of this many emergency calls, technology is the only way a small department can handle this type of volume. "Its Computer Added Dispatch System (CADS) operates at more than 30 million instructions per second providing seamless and timely delivery of public safety services to the citizens." (Division of Emergency Communications, 2004) the city of Richmond's police have dedicated the resources of a division to meet their responsibility to uphold public safety and also to administer non-public safety radio communications. The division has also been implemented as the city's Emergency 911 call center. The division operates 24/7 and requires a staff of over forty communications officers and supervisors. "The Division of Emergency Communications dispatches calls for the Police Department, Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, and Public Works." (Division of Emergency Communications, 2004) Technological advances allow the division to accept and process any 911 call and also to field other non-emergency type calls. The advances in communication provide the entire community with a communications link that incorporates citizens, public safety field personnel and other city services.

History

The city has come a long way in regard to technology. The city of Richmond was established in May of 1742 and although they had an acting sheriff, the only method of communicating emergencies was a bell located in the center of town. Around 1770, Richmond instituted a neighbor watch like system where volunteers walked beats and alerted the community in cases of fires. The typical alerts were instituted like whistles and the telegraph after it was invented, but in 1902 Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company installed the wires for community's first telephone system. Telephones and call boxes were the method of choice until in 1939; two-way radio equipment was added to police cruisers. That radio system was upgraded to incorporate new three-way radio systems around 1955. "December the Richmond metropolitan area was the first in the state to adopt the 9-1-1 emergency number." (Division of Emergency Communications, 2004) Computer technology took over communications in the mid to late 80's and has continued to improve the communications process as new technologies get implemented.

Technology

Technology has forced both big and small police departments to implement new departments in order to meet the demands of modern police work. "Technology can provide the tools to make law enforcement more efficient and effective, limit the consequences of poor judgment, and improve the safety of the police and the public. It can save lives." (Boyd, 1995) for example, the city of Richmond has had to establish several new departments: Computer Services Unit, Information Systems Development Team, Records Management System Team, Central Records Unit and the Warrant and Information Unit.

The Computer Services Unit is basically equivalent to a corporate help desk. The unit has the responsibility of managing and supporting all technological resources within the department. The need for modern day computerization has made law enforcement stay abreast of computer hardware and software changes. The city of Richmond needs more than seven hundred networked computers. With all these systems in place, the department has its hands full with nearly three thousand calls for assistance for both hardware and software problems.

The Information Systems Development Team has the responsibility of performing the research, development, and implementation aspects of the department's data systems. Technology is in constant flux so this unit has to test applications like the Incident Based Information System (IBIS), Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), Central Employee Personnel System (CEPS) and other new and established law enforcement software technologies. One very important aspect of this unit is the responsibility of maintaining the Department's Mobile Data Computer (MDC) System. Police cruiser technology is a very mission critical aspect of police work. Today, cruisers are fully computerized workstations on wheels and therefore require expert maintenance.

The Records Management System Team is responsible for the implementation of a new Records Management System and making sure it functions in a compatible manner with existing systems. The team has the difficult task of converting data from the existing legacy systems to the technologically advanced RMS. Once implemented, the chore of training the department in the use of the new RMS will also fall on this team.

The Central Records Unit is a combination of two existing functions of the department, the Records and the Data Operations Teams. This unit has the mission critical task of being the central point of data entry and also the custodian of the department's data repository. In this digitized world, data entry and security are very important aspects. Record retention, data maintenance, data disposal, and compliance issues for federal, state and local regulations all have to be met in addition to information storage.

The Warrant and Information Unit is to part of the department that handles the storage, addition, deletion, verification, and distribution of warrants. Each year this unit maintains a constant inventory of 12,000 warrants. During the last year the unit entered 19,000 into the system, removed 17,000 served warrants, and handled 45,000 inquiries. The unit also serves as the main contact between citizens and the department and distributes internally all report copies, and court subpoenas.

These new units do not replace the existing departments. Existing departments also have adopted new responsibilities due to technological innovation. For example, the existing Purchasing unit and the Budget and Grants Unit each have to take into consideration technological advances and breakthroughs in law enforcement in additional to their normal forecasting, analysis, and special reporting duties as they administer the City of Richmond's annual fifty million dollar police budget.

Human resources

The Human resource aspects have greatly changed in modern day law enforcement compared to 1742 when an acting sheriff sufficed. Today, the City of Richmond Police department has a Personnel & Recruitment Unit that has been forced through technological advances to hire better and more technology savvy recruits. Since the unit's primary duty is conducting background investigations on prospective department employees, it also has to use the latest developments in historical security research as well as having the most up-to-date software available to conduct security clearance through the various law enforcement agencies.

The department is also responsible for non-law enforcement recruitment for the various technical departments, maintenance of employee commendations, infraction records, and storage and maintenance of personnel files for each employee. As privacy and security take the forefront in employee concerns, the Personnel & Recruitment area has also had to implement new technologies for data security. but, technology cannot is not a complete cure all. "Technology cannot fix every shortcoming. It cannot make up for poor judgment or compensate for inadequate or nonexistent training. It cannot fix the problems that result from poor officer screening or selection, and it can never replace competent leadership." (Boyd, 1995) the basic hiring process has been complicated in a sense by the new advances in technology for law enforcement officials. In other words, the human resource aspects of police work must still be managed and individuals thoroughly trained so that departmental leadership has the necessary mentoring and coaching skills needed to develop new recruits while meeting the demands of the public.

September 11

The terrorist acts as of late have added additional pressures on small police forces. The random shooting a from the Sniper of a few years ago coupled with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation have the public scrutinizing the ability of police forces around the country in protecting the public. The City of Richmond has had to recently implement… READ MORE

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