THE UTION and ~~X,Mt C',D,~N~'W of T~CHNOLOGY
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THE UTION AND ~~x,mT c',D,~n~'w OF T~CHNOLOGY J S~SKATE, INC. THE EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF POLICE TECHNOLOGY A Technical Report prepared for The National Committee on Criminal Justice Technology National Institute of Justice By SEASKATE, INC. 555 13th Street, NW 3rd Floor, West Tower Washington, DC 20004 July 1, 1998 This project was supported under Grant 95-IJ-CX-K001(S-3) from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. PROPERTY OF National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRSJ Box 6000 Rockville, MD 20849-6000~ ~ ...... 0 0 THE EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF POLICE TECHNOLOGY THIS PUBLICATION CONTAINS BOTH AN OVERVIEW AND FULL-LENGTH VERSIONS OF OUR REPORT ON POLICE TECHNOLOGY. PUBLISHING THE TWO VERSIONS TOGETHER ACCOUNTS FOR SOME DUPLICATION OF TEXT. THE OVERVIEW IS DESIGNED TO BE A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE SUBJECT. THE TECHNICAL REPORT IS MEANT FOR READERS SEEKING DETAILED INFORMATION. o°° 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................. VI OVERVIEW REPORT INTRODUCTION ..............................................................1 PART ONE:THE HISTORY AND THE EMERGING FEDERAL ROLE ................................ 2 THE POLITICAL ERA ........................................................ 2 THE PROFESSIONALMODEL ERA ................................................ 2 TECHNOLOGY AND THE NATIONALIZATION OF CRIME ................................... 2 CRIME COMMISSION FINDINGS .................................................. 2 THE ADVENT AND LESSONS OF 911 . : ........................................... 3 THE COMPUTERIZATION OF AMERICAN POLICING ...................................... 3 COMPUTERS AND COMMUNITY POLICING ........................................... 5 THE EARLY EFFORTS OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE ............................. 5 PART TwO:THE NIJ's ROte AND OBSTACLES TO PROGRESS .................................. 7 OBSTACLES TO PROGRESS ..................................................... 7 LIABILITY CONCERNS ........................................................ 7 OPERATING ASSUMPTIONS ..................................................... 8 THE NIJ's APPROACH ....................................................... 9 PART THREE: THE FUTURE OF PONCE TECHNOLOGY ....................................... 15 FUNDING FOR POLICE TECHNOLOGY .............................................. 15 FULFILLMENT OF CURRENT EFFORTS .............................................. 15 CRIMINAL USE OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY ............................................ 16 PART FOUR: FEDERAL EFFORTS ...... .............................................. 17 COORDINATING FEDERAL EFFORTS ............. .................................. 17 ENCOURAGING INDUSTRY ..................................................... 18 STRENGTHENING STANDARDS ................................................... 18 HELPING THE POLICE ACQUIRE TECHNOLOGY ........................................ 18 FUNDING AN ADEQUATE TECHNOLOGY BUDGET ....................................... 18 NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CORRECTIONS TECHNOLOGY CENTER'S REGIONAL OFFICES ............. 21 POLICE TECHNOLOGY TIMEHNE ...................................................... 22 TECHNICAL REPORT .............................................................. 25 PART ONE: POLICE TECHNOLOGY UNTIL Now .......................................... 26 THE POLITICAL ERA ........................................................ 26 THE PROFESSIONALMODEL ERA ................................................ 26 TECHNOLOGY AND THE NATIONALIZATION OF CRIME ................................... 26 CRIME COMMISSION FINDINGS .................................................. 27 THE RAPID ADVENT AND LESSONS OF 911 .......................................... 28 THE SLOW COMPUTERIZATION OF AMERICAN POLICING ................................. 29 COMPUTERS AND COMMUNITY POLICING ........................................... 32 THE GROWTH OF CRIME LABORATORIES ........................................... 33 THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE ............................................. 34 SOFT BODY ARMOR ...................................................... 34 DNA ANALYSIS ......................................................... 35 TESTING AND EVALUATION .................................................. 35 SOURCES FOR THE INTRODUCTION AND PART ONE ........................................ 36 iv PART TWO: HOW THE POLICE USE TECHNOLOGY ......................................... 37 SAFEGUARDING LIFE ........................................................ 37 LESS THAN LETHALTECHNOLOGIES ............................................ 37 FORCE OPTIONS:TACTICS,TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES .................................. 38 CURRENT EFFORTS ......................................... ".............. 45 PROTECTING PERSONNEL AND CITIZENS ............................................ 47 PROTECTING PERSONNEL ................................................... 47 PROTECTING CITIZENS .................................................... 51 SOLVING CRIMES .......................................................... 55 FORENSIC SCIENCE ....................................................... 55 COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY .................................................. 63 COMMUNICATIONS ......................................................... 64 TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT ...................................................... 69 ENFORCEMENT POLICIES ................................................... 69 ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGIES ............................................... 69 VEHICLE INTERDICTION .................................................... 71 MANAGEMENT AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY ........................................ 75 TRAINING ............................................................... 79 PROCUREMENT ............................................................ 81 SOURCES FOR PART Two ........................................................ 83 PART THREE:THE NIJ's ROLE, OBSTACLES TO PROGRESS,AND THE FUTURE OF POLICE TECHNOLOGY ....... 84 OBSTACLES TO PROGRESS ..................................................... 84 LIABILITY CONCERNS ........................................................ 85 OPERATING ASSUMPTIONS ..................................................... 85 NIJ's APPROACH ........................................................... 86 THE FUTURE OF POLICE TECHNOLOGY ............................................ 89 FUNDING FOR POLICE TECHNOLOGY .............................................. 89 FULFILLMENT OF CURRENT EFFORTS .............................................. 90 CRIMINALS USE OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY ............................................ 91 PART FOUR: FEDERAL EFFORTS .................................................... 92 COORDINATING FEDERAL EFFORTS ............................................... 92 ENCOURAGING INDUSTRY ..................................................... 93 STRENGTHENING STANDARDS ................................................... 93 HELPING THE POLICE ACQUIRE TECHNOLOGY ........................................ 93 FUNDING AN ADEQUATE TECHNOLOGY BUDGET ....................................... 94 APPENDICES TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................... 95 V THIS REPORT provides a detailed look at police technology. It is meant to EXECUTIVE help readers as they consider the evolution and future development of police technolo- gy and the role of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in fostering that develop- ment. It was prepared with a diverse audience in mind, all of whom have a stake in SUMMARY ensuring that the police are equipped to do their job safely and efficiently: • police officers on the street and policymakers responsible for their efforts; • citizens concerned about crime; • the news media, and opinion leaders interested in making the police more effective; • the private sector, the manufacturing and marketing source of current and new technologies. The job is exacting. The police are asked to control crime, maintain order, and provide an intricate array of services, from responding to emergency 911 calls to regu- lating the flow of traffic. On occasion, they must perform reraarkable feats of criminal O investigation, quell rowdy crowds and violent offenders, and put their lives on the line. Much of the time, police resources are limited. It is estimated that the workload crime imposes on the police has increased fivefold since 1960. Their resources have not kept pace with their workload. THE POLICE AND TECHNOLOGY To do their job, police frequently have looked to technology for enhancing their effectiveness. The advent of fingerprinting in the 1900s and of crime laboratories in Lilt2 I~/.W~ ~lt~LI.y du~ttt~neeu the ~1:~ULI~ .......~O~tty ;.,, ~ntw O~LVVo~l,,~ cr;m~cttt~o .....................Tk,~ in*-rc~A,,c'tlc~n n( the two-way radio and the widespread use of the automobile in the 1930s multiplied police productivity in responding to incidents. But, as noted in this report, progress in technology for the police has often been slow and uneven. A quotation from the President's Crime Commission in 1967 illus- trates how the police at times have lagged behind other sectors in reaping the benefits of technology: The police, with crime laboratories and radio networks, made early use of technology, but most police departments