NCJ Number
187848
Date Published
2000
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This document examines the technological environment facing policing in the short- to long-term future.
Abstract
Information Technology (IT) is probably the most rapidly changing kind of technology in Australasian society. This report considers the likely developments in IT in the near future and the probable impact on society as a whole and the police in particular. It discusses the ways in which increasingly global IT networks are likely to become cheaper, more powerful, and more influential, and to provide far more services than they do today. It also discusses likely trends in data storage that relate to the recovery of computer-based evidence and associated issues of privacy and secrecy. The report considers a number of technologies that lend themselves to use by criminals, for example smartcards and e-cash, and the ways they might facilitate fraud, illegal gambling, or other forms of organized crime, and robotic navigation systems which might be used by smugglers. It also considers developments that may benefit the police, and thus the communities they serve, such as less-than-lethal weapons, weapons safety, and police protective equipment. Finally, it considers the impact of technological developments on older people, employment practices, transport of people and goods, and lifestyles in general. References