Mobile computing & law enforcement: An Examination of its application in the field and its consequences

The following study has been conducted in the pursuit of a Masters Degree of Science in Information Technology. The functional purpose of this study was to examine three basic concepts (officer efficiency, safety, and arrest rates) within law enforcement and to attempt to determine if a specific type of information technology (wireless data computers) has had any positive impact on those concepts. To that end, the author has reviewed the history of technology in law enforcement and surveyed a group of patrol officers in the Wilmington Police Department. Difficulties associated with gathering research data from law enforcement agencies has also been noted and described. The results garnered from statistical analysis are covered in detail

The effects of mobile technologies on the work of front-line police officers in a UK Police Force

This thesis reports on three sequential cases in the development and deployment of mobile information and communication technologies to front-line operational police officers in a police force in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the thesis was to explore the introduction of these technologies into the police context and the impact of them on the operational officers to whom they were issued. Mobile technologies, allowing remote access to information systems without the need to make use of information intermediaries, have recently become a priority both for central government in the United Kingdom and for the individual police forces. These technologies offer police forces the potential to deliver developments which help them to deliver performance in line with the various pressures and priorities which they have either developed internally or have had placed upon them. Police forces have come under pressure over the last decade to increase the level of visibility and effectiveness of police officers, especially in the community. These pressures have come out of the doctrines of new public management, out of developing policing models reacting to public concerns, and out of media attention. Significant amounts of money, on the order of £110 million from central government, have been spent to help police forces to develop the capacity to deploy and make use of mobile computing (mobile data in the police community) especially with front-line officers - the vast majority of the uniformed police officers in the United Kingdom. Developments to date have mainly been at the level of pilot projects and proof of concept deployments and they have adopted widely differing technologies with varying levels of success. This research aims to provide a more detailed understanding of both the process of introduction of these technologies into the police context and the impact which they have on the front-line officers to whom they are deployed. This is, clearly, a recursive relationship with the process of introduction and management of the technologies having an impact on the way- that officers use them, and the use of the technologies by officers in turn affecting the wider organisation as well as the communities policed. By understanding the process and the effects of it better I aim to both develop practice in implementation and an understanding at a theoretical level of the key areas of attention in such developments. This research is based on the introduction of mobile data to a territorial police force in England. The research was conducted across a total of twenty-eight months and involved sixty-one interviews with users of the technologies, their supervisors and managers, and members of the team implementing the project. Thirty observations were carried out, for of training sessions and twenty-six observations of officers using mobile data in operational contexts. Six focus groups were also run with officers. The bulk of the data was, thus, collected from interview and observation and this was analysed using a qualitative analysis package. The overall framework for both the collection of data and the analysis of it was Activity Theory in the evolved form of the activity process model. Activity Theory was used as a lens both to examine the three cases individually and also the process of introducing mobile data in the force as a whole. The research has provided contributions to practice with the force with whom the research was carried out and in other forces in the United Kingdom as well as with central agencies charged with assisting the development of mobile data in police forces. It has also contributed at a theoretical level; extending the understanding of the level at which users constructed and interpret the information technology artefact, providing a broader understanding of the key areas of attention in the development of mobile information systems in the public safety context and, at a methodological level, in evaluating the use of activity theory across sequential cases

Recording Victim Video Statements as Evidence to Advance Legal Outcomes in Family Violence Cases (ReVEAL)

This Implementation Guide provides an overview of the video-recording practices currently in place across several Texas jurisdictions. It provides guidance and considerations for jurisdictions in the collection and use of video evidence in family violence cases. This guide is divided into seven sections, including this Background and Overview. The second section includes information for law enforcement on the purpose of video statements, how to develop and implement a video program, and considerations for sustaining a program. The third section focuses on prosecutorial practices for the use of video statements including legal considerations, coordination with partners, and victim engagement around the video statement. The fourth section provides specific information for victim advocates and includes considerations for victim privacy and confidentiality. The fifth section focuses on technology and equipment, with information on type of equipment, technology infrastructure, and efficient transfer of evidence between agencies. The sixth section is the Summary Report of the ReVEAL project. The Summary Report is a technical overview of the evaluation that includes major findings and links to the ReVEAL reports that were previously released. The seventh and final section is comprised of the appendices and provides sample protocols, site overviews, equipment charts, and additional resources that may be helpful to users of this guide. Throughout this guide, there are several examples of cases and practices that illustrate the specific issues that may present themselves when launching a video-recording program. These examples highlight the complexities of the practice while using real world examples of how video impacts family violence cases, victim safety, and privacy.IC2 Institut

Roads policing: Current context and imminent dangers

© The Authors 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CSF Associates: Publius, Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions please e-mail: [email protected]. The final version of this paper can be accessed at the link below.This paper will argue that roads policing is the public face of the police for many citizens and thus enjoys an elevated profile. Yet the delivery of roads policing services requires urgent care and attention. As was the situation a century ago, potential and actual conflict with the driving public could be close at hand as more reliance is placed on enforcement technology and more drivers become criminalised and their vehicle movements logged. Indeed, it will be contended that unless great care is taken, such could be the public disaffection with traffic law enforcement and monitoring policies that the legitimacy of the police itself could be challenged. After a brief update of recent developments concerning roads policing nationally and internationally, the second section will underline the ways in which roads policing provides a crucial service. Details follow of dangers lying in wait for the service if the pressing enforcement issues around roads policing are allowed to drift. Finally, some suggestions are outlined to help inform discussion of these matters that could simultaneously facilitate achievement of other key roads policing objectives

Leveraging Wireless Broadband to Improve Police Land Mobile Radio Programming: Estimating the Resource Impact

Despite rapid growth in criminological studies of police technology, examinations of police land mobile radios are absent in the literature. This is troubling given the central role mobile radios serve in police operations and their significant management costs. The present study seeks to fill this gap by introducing the functionality of wireless broadband radio programming. Current practice requires a police officer to physically drive to a radio programming location to manage their mobile radio. Wireless programming remedies this burdensome reality, thereby saving officer time and cost. Geospatial analyses are used to estimate distance saved associated with wireless programming. We then conduct a number of calculations to determine time and cost savings related to the observed differences between existing and wireless radio programming within the context of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Results suggest wireless radio programming can save significant personnel and financial resources. Implications are discussed

Landscapes of violence: women surviving family violence in regional and rural Victoria

In this research, family violence survivors have identified issues and barriers they have encountered, and have provided suggestions in regards to how both the criminal justice system and the broader Victorian community might assist survivors and help prevent family violence. Overview This project combines the findings of two studies undertaken by the Centre for Rural and Regional Law and Justice. Drawing on and extending the findings in Women\u27s experience of surviving family violence and accessing the Magistrate\u27s court in Geelong, Victoria (2013), this report extends the research in terms of geographic areas, issues covered and range of participants. It examines the experiences of, and outcomes for, women survivors of family violence in regional and rural Victoria, considering their contact with, and perceptions of, government agencies (including Victoria Police, the Victorian Magistrate\u27s courts and the Department of Human Services) as well as private and community advocates (legal services, women\u27s services and family violence services) and healthcare professionals. Through this research, survivors have identified issues and barriers they have encountered in escaping family violence, and have provided suggestions in regards to how both the criminal justice system and the broader Victorian community might assist survivors and help prevent family violence. As well as being informed by survivors, this publication includes insights provided by government and non-government practitioners and organisations who have offered their views on this report\u27s key findings and recommendations. In addition to the generous contributions of these participants, this report utilises relevant data and emerging research in an effort to identify best practice responses to family violence; improve access to justice, support and safety; and protect and promote women\u27s rights and entitlements

Predictive policing management: a brief history of patrol automation

Predictive policing has attracted considerably scholarly attention. Extending the promise of being able to interdict crime prior to its commission, it seemingly promised forms of anticipatory policing that had previously existed only in the realms of science fiction. The aesthetic futurism that attended predictive policing did, however, obscure the important historical vectors from which it emerged. The adulation of technology as a tool for achieving efficiencies in policing was evident from the 1920s in the United States, reaching sustained momentum in the 1960s as the methods of Systems Analysis were applied to policing. Underpinning these efforts resided an imaginary of automated patrol facilitated by computerised command and control systems. The desire to automate police work has extended into the present, and is evident in an emergent platform policing – cloud-based technological architectures that increasingly enfold police work. Policing is consequently datafied, commodified and integrated into the circuits of contemporary digital capitalism

From Memphis, with Love: A Model to Protect Protesters in the Age of Surveillance

In 1978, after two years of contentious litigation, the City of Memphis entered into a unique agreement with its citizens: it signed a consent decree, stipulating that it would halt its interference with First Amendment–protected activities. More specifically, the Consent Decree barred the City from surveilling protesters—the very conduct that triggered litigation. Fast forward forty years. In 2018, narratives of police brutality dominated the nation’s headlines. Consequently, protesters demonstrated from the streets of Ferguson, Missouri to Oakland, California. And in Memphis, Tennessee, those who protested were often met with an all-too-familiar response—surveillance by the Memphis Police Department. That is until the Western District of Tennessee found that the City had violated the terms of its own agreement. The court’s message was undeniably clear—the Memphis Consent Decree is alive and well. Memphis is by no means an outlier in police–civilian relations. After all, police departments across the country surveil protesters. But Memphis is an outlier in terms of the method it has chosen to address this issue. As the surveillance of protesters and the capacity to surveil protesters grow, the Memphis Consent Decree offers a model for future legislation that better safeguards First Amendment values. This Note accordingly narrates the story of Memphis, its successes and failures, and the lessons it holds for hundreds of cities, for decades to come