Introduction
Since 1840 to date, technology history in policing has significantly changed. There are three eras in policing, the Political Era, the Professional Era, and the Community Era. The community era is currently in use as of today. This research explains the three eras of policing, it will also identify and elucidate how the policing approaches were changed by technology in each era, and the impacts science and technology had in policing, and lastly, the benefits and challenges encountered in policing emanating from its interaction with technology and science.
The Political Era
The political era occurred amid 1840 to 1930, and in this era, police had no training, job security did not exist, and ethics and standards of recruitment were lacking. Police were patrolling on foot resulting from the absence of technology resulting in low supervision. Police patrolled the sidewalks and unpaved roads. During this time, when patrolling the neighborhoods, the police embodied the resident politicians. The civil service system was lacking, and as a result, the police were employed, fired, and succeeded at the will of the resident politicians. The law enforcement agents used to handle community crimes problems favoring the local politicians as a way of pleasing them. Picking garbage was one way the police were seen as giving back to the community. In 1899 the power-driven wagon was developed (Kelling & Moore, 1989). Police used to carry multi-shot pistols due to increased violence emanating from the citizens. In the late 1870s, advances in technology were visible, telegraph, telephones, and police call boxes were developed. In the 1880s, an identification system referred to as Anthropometry (Bertillon System) was developed in Paris, France, by Alphonse Bertillon. Advanced features of the system were available in 1882, where it included physical measurements, physical identification, and photographs.
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The Professional Policing Era
The era happened amid the 1920’s to1970’s and was characterized by reforming ideas as expressed by August Vollmer. The use of fingerprints, handwriting as well as polygraph systems, was introduced by Vollmer. The era faced technological advances, and police used vehicles when patrolling, resulting in improvised supervision following different chains of command (Kelling & Moore, 1989). Additionally, patrolmen Robert Batts together with Kenneth Cox, introduced a radio receiver that included an antenna system enhancing one-way radio communication. In 1928, the system was installed for the first time by the Detroit Police Department, becoming the first police force to use patrol cars with radio, other cities followed shortly. Two-way radio communication was initiated in 1934 by the New Jersey Police Department. The radios contained a high-frequency system. Transmitters were placed inside the patrolling cars enabling the police officers to receive calls, and communication with other cars as well as the headquarter was made possible.
During this era, policing executed computerization, the development of the National Information Center (NCIC), constituting a recording scheme that contained stolen vehicles, wanted individuals, and stolen weapons, among other kinds of information. Additionally, the implementation of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) enhanced the usage of science to the law. The creation of a 911 number using Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) enabled police, fire, and emergency medical services dispatch on time. The era faced significant changes, political influence on community problems decreased with policing implementing laws and science in fighting crimes.
The Community Policing Era
The policing era is commonly referred to as a community-oriented and was initiated in the 1970s, progress in technology and science. Police patrol is done using vehicles that are armed with high technology than those in the previous era. Advanced lighting and the use of rear cameras equipped in modern patrol cars enabling better policing (Deflem & Chicoine, 2014). Also, the implementation of the use of level III ballistic door plates on police cars by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), police forces are fortified by computerized devices with high-level software and hardware like computers. Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) by police agencies helps in analyzing, mapping patterns of criminal activities, identifying crime hotspots, and assigning police officers into those areas. More so, these information systems help in profiling offenders hence assisting in viewing pedigree information.
The NIJ has played a significant role in developing a life-saving, supple, light-weight, and comfortable defensive body armor helping in the protection of the body’s essential areas while in the line of duty. Development of night vision, as well as the thermal imaging gears including the body cameras, the pepper spray (Oleoresin Capsicum (OC)), restraints, breathalyzers, computerized license plate readers, are among the technological advances in the community policing era helping in preventing crimes on time (Deflem & Chicoine, 2014). The use of high-quality semi-automatic rifles as well as pistols, high-powered tasers, and portable fingerprint devices, among others, have been integrated into the policing system to cub crimes. The 911 was enhanced by police departments in 1980, allowing dispatched police to view addresses and the phone numbers from which the calls are coming from directly on their computers. The enhancement allows dispatched police to be on the crime scene in time, and in this way, they can respond quickly without the confusion of the area the crime is happening.
The Effect of Science and Technology on How They Had an Impact on The World as It Applies to Policing
Science and technology negatively impacted the community. Minority races without excluding the African-Americans believed that the Caucasians received better treatment from the police; additionally, when dealing with African-Americans, the police highly likely to use excessive force. Using the community policing strategies significantly improved the perceptions and attitudes people had towards the police. The community intelligibly became aware that people depend on police officers in assisting them by protection from crimes, while on the other hand, expecting to be treated fairly and lawfully (Thomas & Burns, 2005). As a result, the police foundation started to survey and analyze at peril agents of law enforcement since using extreme force can disrupt policing within the society. The law enforcement agency foundation combined resources and energy with other agencies within the Community Policing Consortium (CPC), facilitating in the provision of technical support and training about community policing to agencies of law enforcement as well as the communities across the USA.
The CPC institutionalizes the nationwide community policing through the office of COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services). The office develops modules, institutional changes, and deliberate plans to offer administration officers, law implementation officers, and leaders of the community with insights and information regarding handling changes in the evolution of community monitoring (Thomas & Burns, 2005). Institutionalizing community policing increased significance regarding practical justice in police relations with the public: hence, the considerable necessity for and dependence on the technology employed in supporting community policing.
The Benefits and Challenges That Policing Has Encountered as A Result of Interactions with Science and Technology
In recent years, technological advancements have continued to change policing nature. The use of crime mapping software via GIS as a way of mapping, visualizing, and analyzing complaints quality and patters of crime over space and time has helped in identifying clusters of lawbreaking events or types. Using GIS, police officers can generate lifelike presentations of incidents of crime, helping the law enforcement agencies and the community at large in identifying local crime patterns; hence officers can be allocated and deployed into these fields to help in controlling crimes on time (Hendrix et al., 2017). On the other hand, crime-mapping has been faced with challenges while implementing the systems available in different police departments. Technical issues, incompatible databases, and geocoding challenges were some of the problems experienced. Additionally, inadequate personnel and resources essential in training users, problems associated with large data handling, or failure of the crime-mapping software to integrate with the prevailing systems and overall technology disenchantment are among the challenges that policing has encountered from crime-mapping technology.
Science and technology have resulted in the emergent of social media platforms, a thing that was not present decades ago. The inclusion of social media in policing has helped significantly in contemporary law enforcement. Using social media has helped in installing credulous relationships amid agents of law enforcement with the local community by establishing open forums for communication. Intending to protect the community, the police departments use social media in posting crime prevention tips, disbursing community-related news, addressing pedestrian and motorist safety issues, and other information regarding weather and traffic-related emergencies. On the other hand, the community delivers valuable feedback to the law enforcement agents helping in raising awareness on the perception of the community towards the police (Hendrix et al., 2017). Through this, the police officers are seen as essential members of the community. Correspondingly, social media can be used as an investigative tool helping in solving crimes and a tool that can anticipate future crimes. On the other hand, social media has been faced with challenges also. Fake news lacking credibility gets circulated hence spreading fear into the community and, in other times spreading false information about the law enforcement officers. Additionally, hiding identity at times is hard where individuals give information to the police officers concerning crimes, and they may end up being bullied on social media and information can get leaked putting people into problems
The development and implementation of the use of car cameras impacted positively on policing as a police officer’s accountability increased. Additionally, the perception of the community towards the police force improved, and officers related behaviors also improved tremendously, thus high professionalism while handling cases. more so, in courts, the footage obtained by these cameras serves crucially as evidence, and some are used as resources for training recruits (Hendrix et al., 2017). On the other hand, technology has been faced with challenges as many became incapable of handling or accommodating demands related to storage, filing, and retrieving these videos. More so, the different technology formats posed a challenge while transforming from analog to digital and the fear that some officers lack adequate training in handling the technology and the worry that they were implemented to monitor the law enforcement agent’s behavior and performances.
Science and technology resulted in the development of license plate readers (LPRs) with the capability of reading and documenting license plates in thousands per minute while at the same time keeping a record of the date, time, and location where the scan happened. The information obtained from LPRs can be compared with prevailing hotlists of license plates obtained from different agencies. The resulting related matches can be used in sending alerts hence activating officers on patrol (Hendrix et al., 2017). Consequently, the technology has been associated with concerns relating to privacy rights; hence there is a need for tighter regulations relating to LPR technology. Additionally, LPRs implementation and maintaining its information technology infrastructure to support license plate databases can be costly posing challenges towards its implementation.
The credibility of The Sources Used
The sources used in this research are scholarly journals with authors who expertly discussed the purpose of the research with deep knowledge and experience. Additionally, these materials are available in major databases and government departments like the United States of America, department of justice. More so, these journals have included extensive in-text citations and reference lists with distinguished authors in the field of criminal justice and have had their work published in the journal of ethnicity in criminal justice. Some of these journals have been available for more than ten years and have been cited numerously by other authors online and in books. Lastly, reputable publishers have been engaged in publishing these information materials used in this research.
Conclusion
The technology employed by police in delivering their services has greatly evolved over the years. The further technology advances, the harder it becomes for the criminals to commit crimes and go away with it. Police departments should, therefore, employ the best and current technologies in combating crimes and deliver their protection in a humane way to the communities they serve to enhance effective collaboration with individuals they serve in these communities.
References
Deflem, M., & Chicoine, S. (2014). History of Technology in Policing. Encyclopedia Of Criminology And Criminal Justice, 2269-2277. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_253
Hendrix, J., Taniguchi, T., Strom, K., Aagaard, B., & Johnson, N. (2017). Strategic policing philosophy and the acquisition of technology: findings from a nationally representative survey of law enforcement. Policing And Society, 29(6), 727-743. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2017.1322966
Kelling, G. L., & Moore, M. H. (1989). The evolving strategy of policing (No. 4). US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.
Thomas, M., & Burns, P. (2005). Repairing the Divide. Journal Of Ethnicity In Criminal Justice, 3(1-2), 71-90. https://doi.org/10.1300/j222v03n01_04
