Advancements in policing over the last 20 years have grown exponentially, from the use of computers to write reports and collect and analyze data. Technology has allowed for electronic tracking of potential suspects, as well as to reduce jail and prison populations by utilizing this technology for house arrests. In car computers has allowed for officers to have access to maps that will plot a course to a call or address based on GPS location of the officer. Officers can recall a prior law enforcement contact or history of a person or address that improves the officer safety. New technology has allowed for officers to get instant feed back on stolen vehicles, wanted persons, driver’s statuses, and so on. In the last 20 years, technology for some departments has gone from sharing a radio between officers to each officer having a cell phone and computers with instant access to both information and resources. Often in small departments, officers would have to stop what they were doing, call in to a dispatch center to receive a call, and go into a call not fully knowing what they were getting in to. Some of the biggest improvement over the last 20 years has been in the equipment that officers use to maintain their safety. From the ballistic vests that are worn that used to be thick, bulky, and uncomfortable are now thin, flexible, and twice as strong as previous vest. Other technological equipment that has entered the officer’s realm of safety is the Taser or electronic control device (ECD). Since it uses in the police departments, incidents of officer and citizen injuries have decreased dramatically. Although recent evidence has shown that the ECD’s is not without its own faults, it has reduced the total amount and severity of injuries.
The technology that exists today has made police departments more efficient, allowed for quicker response time, improved public safety, and changed policing from reaction to proactive. As stated in the online article, “Tech Cops – How technological advances are changing police work”. “… wait-and-respond method of policing is now a thing of the past, police say, as modern-day methods have changed to an intelligence-led policy embracing lightning-fast, "smart" technology that seeks to predict and prevent crime before it takes place.” Many of the advances today allow for the general public to have a greater sense of safety and for officers to be more confident in their abilities to protect no only themselves but the public.
Read more: http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/TECH-COPS-How-technological-advances-are-648003.php#ixzz1LYXoEpqI