Public Access to Surveillance Technologies

In the never-ending struggle to effectively combat crime, intelligence gathering in crime prevention before they occur seems the ideal solution. The past few decades have seen many law enforcement agencies moving towards an intelligence-led policing approach to curb the high crime rates (Parry & Richardson, 2013). Traditionally, law enforcement agencies used rudimentary forms of intelligence to speculate current and future crime patterns. However, with significant advancements to technology and its incorporation in policing and crime prevention, intelligence gathering through sophisticated computer tools and models depicts intelligence's value in preventing crimes that could have adverse impacts.Intelligence gathering and sharing have created several ethical concerns with civil liberties. Balancing the need for intelligence gathering and civil liberties follows the need to gather and share such information (Parry & Richardson, 2013). For instance, intelligence gathering and information sharing can be done to determine what law has been violated. Moreover, it can be done to identify the person or group of people who violated the law. Lastly, intelligence gathering can provide court evidence on the law violated and those responsible for the act. Without specifying the need for intelligence gathering and information sharing, civil liberties will assume that the activity infringes on their right to privacy. Public access to surveillance technologies and intercept equipment can cause a public uproar and malicious activities. The law should prohibit the public from gaining access to such equipment and technologies by banning ownership of such equipment by any citizen (Parry & Richardson, 2013). Moreover, restrictions should be placed on using standard surveillance equipment by the public, such as drones and CCT cameras. These restrictions will enable the public to observe the right to privacy and prevent foreseen cybercrimes. Ultimately, the government should enact stricter policies on violating surveillance equipment and technologies by unlicensed citizens.

Reference

Parry, J. T., & Richardson, L. S. (Eds.). (2013).  The Constitution and the Future of Criminal Justice in America . Cambridge University Press.