Criminal Justice and Computers

879 Words2 Pages

Criminal Justice and Computers Technology affects almost all aspects of society today. Family life, medicine, business, telecommunications, and social life have all been changed for both good and bad. Interesting me in particular, technology (mainly computers) has influenced the criminal justice/law enforcement field. That is my chosen profession that I hope to accomplish. A few summers ago, I had the privilege to ride along in a patrol car two times with the Michigan State Police Bay City Post. As I was side by side with the troopers, I observed many things. I never knew how much they used technology. Not only computers, but other things as well. Throughout one’s shift, the officer communicates on his radio frequently. This radio can broadcast all around the county to other police officers and stations. That is the way that the word about a crime gets spread. If an officer is down, he or she can just talk into their radio and help will come as soon as possible. I thought that when the police officer pulled over a speeding car, they walked up to it, issued the violator a ticket, and went on their merry little way. I was wrong. When they first pull them over, the officer enters the license plate into the mini computer. There is a small device that is latched into the console between the seats in the patrol car. It looks like a small computer with the keyboard and screen attached together. There are many different options to choose from on the main screen. After the officer enters the license plate number, a whole bunch of information comes up. Who owns the car, the make of the car, and information similar to that come up on the screen. After the officer gets the driver’s license, he or she enters that into the police blotter also. The information that comes back now is if there is a warrant out for the driver’s arrest, if he or she has any unpaid tickets, and also all the other times he or she has gotten pulled over for traffic violations with in the past year show up. Without this technology, police officers would be in a lot of danger. There could be a convicted felon in that car, but the officer would be unaware. So with this computer, a lot of information is stored, the safety of lives is increased, and the police can find out about the driver without asking him anything.

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