3/27/07
Technology and the Criminal Justice System
Class notes
Hands Free Patrol Car Control
Project 54 was pioneered at the University of New Hampshire. The high tech data systems in cars can be controlled by PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). This opens the door for better and new waves of police innovation; it impacts police and the effectiveness.
Project 54 will change the way police officers think about their jobs. Computers in police cars will make it more interesting for them. Instead of sitting there while watching speeders, they can browse through pools of data on the cars that are driving by. From a passing car, the police officer can get his/her race, driving record, criminal record etc. With these possibilities there will be more stops and checks. It makes it harder for a person to avoid detection.
The down side of equipping police with advanced data systems is that there will be more racial profiling.
It alsoaffects criminal justice students who have criminal records. They may not get jobs they would have previously had available to them.
To filter which cars to run checks on is unclear. There is a potential for abuse.
New guns also offer greater control with less risk and new guns are replacing old ones all the time.
Defensive Strategies
There are two different defensive strategies that the U.S. government has used to subdue battle enemies in the past:
1) Strength comes in numbers. A ten to one ratio is the best way to win.
2) Less people can get the same job done. By using more effective and efficient strategies less people can be deployed.
Each of these strategies haspitfalls:
1) More numbers is very expensive.
2) Using less people with better toys may cause more injury.This may be a result of poor training.
Soft technology
Crime mapping (hot spots)
Problem oriented policing started in the seventies to figure out the cause of homicidebyidentifyingthe location of specific problems. Crime mapping coded the location of crimes.
Crime mapping is based on the theory that repeated calls and where they came from can predict violence that will occur in the future.
He utilized calls for service data and mapped hot spots to get a pattern. Crime mapping didn’t always work when you must map a high-rise.High-rises are represented as one location on the map so crimes on specific floors could not be counted separately.
The Police don't want to adapt to new proceduresbecause people in general don't like to respond to change. The police are used to doing things a certain way.
Citizen involvement is important and citizens will work with police more even though crime has been displaced.
Operation Cease Fire Program
There was a study of homicides in Boston. 2/3 of the homicideswere of people under 24 years of age involving gangs. Police were using a pulley/lever strategy to control gang violence.
How the pulley/lever system worked:
1) Identify carrots like jobs for gang members or gun buyback programs. Police will leave gang members alone to do little crimesas long as they don't kill each other.
2) Sticks include zero tolerance policies. They will be locked up and punished severely.
Coalitions, usually evolving churches, are initiated in must urban cities. This cuts to the heart with research driven programs. Citizens are spending tens of millions of dollars to start ceasefire programs. This theorygives options to gangs.
Some like the pulley/lever system because it brings violence down. Others don’t like this idea because it is giving favors to bad behavior.
This system only works if violence is gang related. Bush funds faith initiatives in urban neighborhoods