Use of Computer Technology by Law Enforcement Officers
When it comes to fighting crimes, computers are the most helpful source law enforcement and security officers have. They help track where a suspect could be, where they used to live, past jobs, past criminals record, etc, and they keep track of all criminals. Computers keep records of everything; for example: fingerprints, pictures, information about a suspect, etc. Security personnel use computer technology to help catch thieves, cheaters, embezzlers, and so on. Computer technology is very important in today’s society. Many businesses use computer surveillance to keep people from stealing from their businesses. Video camera’s almost always can catch people who are trying to shoplift, if a store did not use a video camera, the person trying to steal would more than likely get away with it ninety nine percent of the time. Computer’s also help in a way so that pictures can be printed off of a suspect and posted in many areas so that people will be aware of who they are to be looking for. If we did not have the printer today, no pictures of suspects would ever be posted, and many criminals would get off scot-free!
Law enforcement use computer technology to keep track of convicts everyday. They keep on record the day someone was sent to prison, and they have on file the day they are supposed to be released. Also, computer technology helps the public be able to know if they have an ex-con living in their neighbor, all they have to do is look it up online for their area! If computer technology was not available, you could have a child molester living right next door, and not even know it! And to too me, that would be very scary! Law enforcement use computer technology to help match up fingerprints they have recovered from a recent crime scene. If there were no computer, the person who left the prints would never be found because law enforcement would not be able to link the prints to any one person.
Today, police officers have little computers inside their vehicles so that if they so choose too, they can scan your license plate while driving behind you to see if you have a warrant out for your arrest, see if your
Randa, Laura E. “Society’s Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty.” (1997). Rpt.in History of the Death Penalty. Ed. Michael H. Reggio. University Press of America, Inc., 1997. 1-6 Print.
Koch, Larry Wayne, John F Galliher, and Colin Wark, The Death of the American Death Penalty : States Still Leading the Way. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2012, Ebscohost Ebook.
Koch, L.W., Wark, C., Galliher, J.F. (2012). The death of the American death penalty. Lebanon, NH: Northeastern University Press.
Throughout America’s history, capital punishment, or the death penalty, has been used to punish criminals for murder and other capital crimes. In the early 20th century, numerous people would gather for public executions. The media described these events gruesome and barbaric (“Infobase Learning”). People began to wonder if the capital punishment was really constitutional.
...ed United States. U.S. Government Accounting Office. Capital Punishment. Washington: GPO, 1994 Cheatwood, Derral and Keith Harries. The Geography of Execution: The Capital Punishment Quagmire in America. Rowman, 1996 NAACP Legal Defense Fund . Death Row. New York: Hein, 1996 "Ex-Death Row Inmate Cleared of Charges." USA Today 11 Mar. 1999: 2A "Fatal Flaws: Innocence and the Death Penalty." Amnesty International. 10 Oct. 1999 23 Oct. 1999 Gest, Ted. "House Without a Blue Print." US News and World Report 8 Jul. 1996: 41 Stevens, Michelle. "Unfairness in Life and Death." Chicago Sun-Times 7 Feb. 1999: 23A American Bar Association. The Task Ahead: Reconciling Justice with Politics. 1997 United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Report. Washington: GPO, 1994 Wickham, DeWayne. "Call for a Death Penalty Moratorium." USA Today 8 Feb. 1999: 17A ILKMURPHY
Security cameras are an invasion of privacy. These invasions begin with searches. Spying is a huge invasion of privacy. Industry sales of spy and security equipment increased from 10 billion dollars to 40 billion dollars, as stated by CCS International. (Downs, 1 of 4) People are spying on their babysitters, spouses, and even their children. Some creeps use them to violate women. They get their most embarrassing moments on tape. Lenexa police arrested a tanning salon owner when they found videotapes of naked customers. (Downs, 1 of 4)Peepers use cameras they put in backpacks, briefcases, and shopping bags to peek up women’s skirts. Sometimes these women will find themselves exposed on the Internet. This is happening more today. In 1994, in Buffalo. MO, a tanning bed worker was incriminated of secretly videotaping his clients. He was charged with child abuse and being a hazard to the welfare of a child for videotaping minors.
Mappes, Thomas A., Jane S. Zembaty, and David DeGrazia. "The Death Penalty." Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 105-53. Print.
Surveillance cameras have helped hundreds of law enforcement agencies solve thousands of crimes throughout the nation. They have become so helpful that most law enforcement agencies are planning on setting them up on street corners, buildings, publication parks, and on their own officers. There are many cities across the nation that have began to use surveillance cameras. Setting up cameras is a pivotal technique to solving and preventing crimes. Although, it is often argued that having law enforcement surveillance cameras set up throughout the nations communities is an invasion of privacy, citizens should sacrifice a little bit of privacy in return for their safety and protection of civil rights against criminals and police officers.
Lewis, Neil A. “Death Sentences Decline, And Experts Offer Reasons.” The New York Times, Late Edition. New York, New York: Dec. 15, 2006. Print.
The death penalty continues to be an issue of controversy and is an issue that will be debated in the United States for many years to come. According to Hugo A. Bedau, the writer of “The Death Penalty in America”, capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The death penalty has been used since ancient times for a variety of offenses. The Bible says that death should be done to anyone who commits murder, larceny, rapes, and burglary. It appears that public debate on the death penalty has changed over the years and is still changing, but there are still some out there who are for the death penalty and will continue to believe that it’s a good punishment. I always hear a lot of people say “an eye for an eye.” Most people feel strongly that if a criminal took the life of another, their’s should be taken away as well, and I don’t see how the death penalty could deter anyone from committing crimes if your going to do the crime then at that moment your not thinking about being on death role. I don’t think they should be put to death they should just sit in a cell for the rest of their life and think about how they destroy other families. A change in views and attitudes about the death penalty are likely attributed to results from social science research. The changes suggest a gradual movement toward the eventual abolition of capital punishment in America (Radelet and Borg, 2000).
Almost all nations in the world either have the death sentence or have had it at one time. It was used in most cases to punish those who broke the laws or standards that were expected of them. Since the death penalty wastes tax money, is inhumane, and is largely unnecessary it should be abolished in every state across the United States. The use of the death penalty puts the United States in the same category as countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia which are two of the world’s worst human rights violators (Friedman 34). Lauri Friedman quotes, “Executions simply inject more violence into an already hostile American society.”
Bedau, H. A. (2004). Killing as Punishment:Reflections on the Death Penalty in America. York, Pennsylvania. Maple Press. Northeastern University Press. Print
Van Den Haag, Earnest, and John Conrad. The Death Penalty: A Debate. New York: Plenum Press, 1997.
In conclusion technology is changing every day. Law enforcement has to keep up with the time. Some devices started back 1932 that I could find and they are on the rise as far as being in police cars. Most are expensive but worth the monies. The United States need technology devices to keep criminal activity down. Criminal activity is not dropping rapidly but it is decreasing slowly.
Computers take part in a big role in the Criminal Justice Field. So far computers have allowed us to make it accessible for witnesses to go through and look for a suspect's picture on the screen. Computers have enabled us to be able to do DNA testing. Which now only takes the labs a short time to process, and finding criminals from cases 15+ years ago can now be charged for their actions.