Technology and Communication

Technology has affected all aspects of life and the criminal justice system is no exception. There are so many ways where technology has been incorporated in the criminal justice and police departments that I really do not know where to start. The invention of the lie detector test was huge in my opinion. It can be given in the criminal justice system to try to get to the bottom of the truth. In police departments you have the use of closed circuit televisions for property security, cameras in police units, tape recorders used in police units and when conducting investigations and so forth.In my opinion technological advancements enhance the effectiveness of communication.

Let’s take emails for instance. Some will argue that it replaces traditional face to face communication thus lowering the effectiveness. I believe this to a certain extent but the convenience of email as an effective way to communicate outweighs the cons in my opinion. To be fair however, a look at opposing viewpoints shows that the advancement in technology and different ways to communicate open the gateway to activity that it illegal and frowned upon.A look at the school’s library generated an article entitled “Cyberbullying”. The author explains “Cyberbullying can take many forms. It may include repeatedly sending emails to people who have said they do not want contact with the sender.

It can also include sending threats, making sexual remarks, using offensive language or labels, or posting humiliating photos or videos, as well as spreading rumors or lies about the victim”. (apollolibrary. com) With the advancement of technology it paves the way for new and improved software.One of the new advancements is that of facial recognition. Facial recognition in the criminal justice system allows for officers or other law enforcement personnel to enter into a database a picture of a person. This picture is then cross referenced to see if they have a match of the person in question. If a match is found then the criminal’s record will come up with their previous crimes and any information regarding warrants.

In my opinion this is an excellent technological advancement that saves time and improves accuracy. Facial recognition technology makes use of unalterable features of a face, such as the distance between the centers of the pupils of the eye. It then uses an algorithm, a finite set of steps for solving a problem, which converts the image to numbers”. Weiss, Davis (2004) Live scan is a fingerprint system that can be used in the criminal justice system and also for non-criminal justice use. Most law enforcement departments require all officers to be fingerprinted using live scan technology. Once an officer is fingerprinted, his or her records are sent into varies databases.The officers are required to be free of a criminal background so the prints are checks for previous crimes.

The prints are then sent to Sacramento (California) to various departments for processing such as BSIC which is the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Because live scan is inkless it saves paper and time because it’s electronic which is better for the environment and more convenient for law enforcement agencies. When a criminal is arrested his or her fingerprints are taken with the live scan system and cross referenced for a match in a number of systems including the FBI.If there is a match then the information is sent to the police department which includes the suspect’s weight, height, sex, and date of birth. In conclusion technology has dramatically changed many aspects of the criminal justice department. It has made communication and detection more easy and convenient for law enforcement. Technology is not without its drawbacks however.

The use of technology can be seen in a negative way if it makes the officers and the department dull and lazy with its tactics.Nothing will replace traditional hard work so if this is remembered then sufficient training should still be implemented to keep the officer or department fresh. If I had to choose a specialized technology to invent it would be along the lines of facial and iris recognition. The technology that I would invent would make it possible for a machine to scan a person and detect if that person has been involved in a crime and if so will display everything about this person to law enforcement during questioning.So in short if a person is pulled over for suspected driving under the influence not only will the officer be automatically able to pull up the person’s information on a computer screen but it will display any other DUI charges automatically and instantly.Reference “Cyber bullying. ” Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library.

Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 Nov. 2010. “Facial Recognition Technology in Law Enforcement” (2004) Jim Weiss, Mickey Davis Hendon Publishing Company