Seeking Tools for the War on Terror: A Critical Assessment of Emerging Technologies in Law Enforcement

• NCJ Number: 202922
• Journal: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: 2003 Pages: 454-472
• Author(s): Samuel Nunn
• Editor(s): Lawerence F. Travis III
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper analyzes the question of how gaps develop between what technologies, such as thermography and PMI, allow operators to do compared to what operators should do under existing policy and procedural guidelines, and the use of these technologies as tools in the fight against terrorism.

Abstract

Advanced technologies are recognized as a major tactical component of civilian law enforcement in identifying, locating, apprehending, and prosecuting terrorists. As these technologies diffuse in their use, new socio-technical systems evolve that change the relationships between the police and the civilian populations they are sworn to protect. Socio-technical systems are combinations of new machines, technologies, and their operators that produce products and services structured by the capabilities of the technologies, the ways operators use the technologies, and the policies and guidelines governing overall operations. In this paper, an analysis is conducted on how gaps develop between what technologies allow operators to do compared to what operators are restricted to do under existing policy and procedural guidelines. The paper begins with a presentation of the intersection of law enforcement technology and public surveillance as a series of layers that progressively reveal more detailed types of hidden information. The paper also examines the forces influencing public acquisition of police technologies. An example of a mature police technology, mobile digital terminals, is presented in terms of the ways that it has been used outside the traditional rules of reasonable suspicion and probable cause. An analysis is offered on how advanced imaging technologies, such as passive millimeter imaging gives police extraordinary powers of technologically-enhanced perception. The paper concludes by providing a critical assessment of these technologies and suggesting some guidance on ways to minimize their impact on due process and privacy concerns. References