Critical Issues Paper
Breanna Brown
CJS/210
December 8, 2013
University of Phoenix

Critical Issues Paper

Law enforcement authorities are feeling the pressure of protecting and serving now more than ever. From the small, family-oriented community to the nation as a whole, police officers and other law officials are dealing with plenty of critical issues that require a lot of their attention and analysis. Luckily, we are in a time where technology has advanced significantly enough to become a valuable tool in law enforcement. Authorities have become more effective at patrolling, easy access to information and better ways to avoid using lethal force. Technology has certainly made it easier to deal with the critical issues they face.
The dangers and issues that law enforcement have to face are plentiful, and both big and small. They have a responsibility to the general public as well as to themselves, and they have to balance these things out while enforcing the law and following the orders of their superiors. Police officers have to develop a relationship with their community if they are to effectively perform their duties. This is done by not being just a uniform in the eyes of the residents. When the residents realize that the police officers are as human as they and are there to help, they are more likely to trust them and include them in on what is happening in the community. The more aware the officer, the better he can keep a rein on crime. However, this can become difficult when another challenge gets in the way of carrying out regular duties. The individuals of law enforcement sometimes have more responsibilities assigned to them. This is especially so because of the attack of the World Trade Centers. The attack ushered in a whole new era of law enforcement, one that has become more competent in communication and information gathering. Terrorism has become a major focus. The attack not only opened the eyes of other major cities but made many departments reevaluate their policing, investigative and communicative strategies. Some departments have even gone as far to create new tasks forces to distribute fair and even responsibilities. Federal, state and local authorities have made more of an effort to work together to achieve an old, higher goal: protecting and serving the nation. Divvying up time and attention between local, state and national issues has become a challenge and will continue to be as long as national security remains threatened.
Fortunately, technology has advanced enough to lighten some of the pressure that comes with these issues and their consequences. Database and information technology, mobile computing, computer-aided dispatch and global positioning systems have brought criminal justice a long way from call boxes, push-pin crime mapping and loads of paperwork to sift through for information. Database and information technology have made it easier to organize information and it makes it easier for information to be shared between departments. This is beneficial for cases that have crossed state lines and entered federal jurisdiction. Federal authorities would have easy access to case information stored in the database. With computer-aided dispatch, dispatchers can send important details to officers while organizing and prioritizing the calls that they receive from the community. Just like global positioning systems, computer-aided dispatch has become an effective way in keeping track of an officer’s status, especially after they have responded to a call. Closed-circuit television is a form of surveillance that has enabled law enforcement to record events for later evaluation and to look for and keep track of offenders. This is also effective at deterring crime. People are less likely to break the law when someone is watching. Another form of technology that is used on a daily basis by officers is mobile computing. Officers have access to information while they are out on the field. This means that they can look up a status of a hotspot, information on a driver that has been pulled over and receive more details on a call. Mobile computing has revolutionized how departments communicate with their officers. It has also changed how the officers interact with residents; they are more available and easy to get a hold of. However, there is a downside to this. Police corruption, which is another issue that officers face, benefits from how quick and easy communication has become. For example, a police officer would be able to warn a drug smuggler of a search and seize while in route. Information security also becomes a problem because of advanced technology. Despite this though, we can tell that technology pulls its own weight in the force compared to what was available to officers years ago.
Technology advancement has also provided law enforcement with alternatives to using lethal force. Less-than-lethal weapons are used in combat situations to limit the escalation of conflict or where employment of lethal force is prohibited or undesirable or where rules of engagement require minimum casualties or policy restricts the use of conventional force. ("Less-Lethal Weapon", (YYYY). Officers may be equipped with Tasers, pepper-spray or mace and are able to use them at their discretion. These type of weapons are preferred because they can quickly inhibit a suspect so that they can be controlled, therefore diffusing any situation. They keep suspects from losing their lives unnecessarily, innocent bystanders from getting harmed and can protect the officers and departments from law suits. The general public is also provided with a way to defend themselves with the use of less-than-lethal weapons. When someone doesn’t have the time or opportunity to call the local authorities they can protect themselves and ward off victimization with pepper-spray, mace or another type of less-than-lethal weapon.
Police officers have a lot on their plates, whether they are local, state or federal level. They are constantly performing a balancing act of upholding the law, serving the public and continuing to be true to what they stand for in their line of work. It would be even more difficult, or in the very least more time costly, to do these things without the help of technology. Technology has given officers effective ways to communicate and share important information. It has lightened the load of paperwork and given officers more options to consider when using their discretion. The critical issues that are presented to officers will most likely stick around for a while, maybe even evolve into different ones but at least we have the satisfaction in knowing that technology will only continue to advance and aid in the criminal justice system.

References: 1. Less-lethal Weapon. ((YYYY)). Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Less-lethal_weapon.html