Computers Help Police Essay Research Paper Computers

Computers Help Police Essay, Research Paper

Computers help police officers that work in the field. Computers allow the officer to check many things in order to make safer stops on vehicles. The officer can check if the car is stolen, if the driver has any outstanding warrants or if the driver has a valid drivers license.

When a police officer stops a driver for speeding or other unlawful activity, he usually does not know exactly what kind of situation he or she is getting into. The person in the car could be a fleeing felon, a drug trafficker or merely a careless driver. This technology especially designed for public safety agencies can help law enforcement officers gain more information about the people they encounter before any physical or verbal contact with them. Linking the officers in the field with some of the same records available to dispatch agents and officers at police stations help keep the officers safe because it allows them to check criminal histories prior to leaving their car. There is a notification that shows up on the officers’ computer if the driver is a sex offender or he has been arrested for drugs or gang membership. This fairly new technology saves time, allowing for more productivity in the field, and more arrests and a safer environment.

Without this technology, officers must radio a dispatcher to check license tags and IDs. The field officers must then wait several minutes to get their information, depending on how busy the dispatcher is. Although it does not happen very often, some police officers have been killed while waiting for information after pulling over a driver who broke a traffic law. When officers are in critical situations, every minute counts. Using radio can take several minutes to get information, where computers only take seconds to get the necessary information on the driver. Some drug dealers have police scanners that allow them to monitor officers’ locations, travel routs and assignments. The computers transmit information over fully encrypted, secure digital channels, allowing officers to respond silently to a drug complaint, boosting their chances of making surprise arrests.

One evening, a narcotics officer noticed a van that was making frequent stops in a neighborhood well known for drug activity. The officer called the dispatcher to run a check on the license plate of the van. While he was waiting for the dispatcher, the van left the neighborhood, and the officer was unable to stop it because he had no hard evidence (Computers in the Field). In another instance, a motorcycle officer stopped a suspicious driver on a major highway and was nearly killed when the car turned back onto the highway and ran over him. The driver was later stopped and arrested. Had the officer had a computer on his motorcycle, he would have been able to determine that the driver was a felon with outstanding warrants for his arrest (Computers in the Field).

Computers can save time for the field officers. With the computers installed in patrol cars, officers are also no longer required to report to headquarters for patrol information. They can communicate directly to headquarters and talk “real time” to any units already in the field as well. This keeps officers on the road, thereby providing the highest level of service to the community. Officers will soon be able to complete reports through their mobile computers and will be able to electronically transmit them to headquarters. Officers spend four to six hours a day writing reports. Currently, when an officer submits a report, it goes to a supervisor for approval. The report then is loaded in to the department’s records. That process takes about three days. Once officers have vehicles with computers, they should be able to cut their

report-writing time to an hour, giving them more time to respond to calls. As departments move to an electronic report format, it will no longer have to store paper reports (Law Enforcement Software and Hardware). This would not only save time and space, but it will make the reports more legible. It should also make for more accurate reports since the officers will be doing the reports before they even leave the scene. This will also better the reports by putting so much information at their fingertips in the field.

Another type of computer, which police use, is a radar or laser gun. This piece of equipment allows the officers to tell how fast a driver is going. Inadvertently radar guns have helped police catch many felons and drug dealers. When a police officer pulls a speeder over, they only expect that they are going to give a ticket. Some times, after using the computer, the officer finds that the person who was only going to get a ticket is wanted for a robbery, breaking probation or even committing a murder. One night, a police officer in Springfield was sitting in the median of I-55 one night and heard a roar go past him and his radar gun read 215m.p.h. The officer radioed to another officer further down on the interstate and told him about it. The second officer had the same thing happen a couple of minutes later. One of the officers radioed in to headquarters and told them. Police set up a roadblock near Chicago and caught a drug dealer driving a Dodge

Viper carrying over 200 pounds of marijuana. Thanks to this computer device, the police made a huge drug bust.

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