Essay on "Law Enforcement Technology Do You Think"

Essay 4 pages (1452 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Law Enforcement

Technology

Do you think you get greater crime prevention by criminals knowing that camera exist somewhere rather than knowing that a camera is observing a specific location? If criminals do not know the specific location of cameras, then the general public doesn't either. Although CCTV is used by law enforcement in public places, do you see privacy concerns? Does your personal privacy concerns out weight any benefit you see of CCTV in public?

Over the last several years there has been a huge growth in the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) security monitoring systems. Video cameras are routinely placed in police vehicles to record traffic stops, and on roadways to monitor and manage vehicle movement. With this there have been several groups that have questioned the use of CCTV, but it appears the public wants and expects these systems be to be used to protect them. The use of these video systems has resulted in a big collection of recorded evidence that has led to many convictions in several criminal cases (Fredericks, 2004).

CCTV has been widely used in public areas by both law enforcement and private security organizations throughout the United States. The majority of use today is at the local level and is currently being used to monitor traffic. It is mainly being used in traffic signal controlled intersections to observe and punish aggressive driving (Guideline on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) for Public Safety and Community Policing, 2003).

Those opposed to the use of CCTV in public places have raised two issues in regard to the constitution. The first being the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the second is the right of personal privacy. In order to determine the constitutionality of the use of CCTV in public areas you first have to define the concepts of public area and reasonable expectation of privacy. "Generally, public areas are those areas open for public use, including unenclosed areas (public streets, sidewalks, and parks, etc.) and enclosed areas (building lobbies, corridors and elevators, etc.) to qualify as a constitutionally protected "reasonable expectation of privacy," the individual must have an actual expectation of privacy and that expectation must be one which society recognizes as reasonable" (Guideline on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) for Public Safety and Community Policing, 2003).

It has been determined over the years by the courts that an individual does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when he or she is in a public place. Public places are just that-public. Behavior and activity that is displayed in these areas is obviously available for observation by others. So any observations that take place by police officials, whether they are in plain view or via CCTV do not violate the Fourth Amendment in any way (Guideline on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) for Public Safety and Community Policing, 2003).

I think that there is greater crime prevention by people knowing that there are cameras somewhere, but not necessarily knowing specifically where they are. If the criminals know where the cameras are then they are more likely to avoid those areas when going on a crime spree. And although the cameras are present and no one knows where they are, I do not feel that any privacy laws are being violated. If a person is in a public place then by definition it should be assumed that your behavior and activity is on display for anyone and everyone to see. People should stop and remember that if what they are doing is something that they don't want anyone else to see then maybe they shouldn't be doing it out in public.

The presence of CCTV technology has been of great assistance in helping police officials to investigate and solve crimes. I believe that as CCTV becomes more widely used it will be a tremendous crime deterrent, because the criminals will just never know when they might be being watched. I think that it is a wonderful asset to making the streets safer and our society as a whole a better place to be.

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