How are police departments across the country leveraging technology to create innovative solutions to their mission to keep streets safer, fight crime, close cases more quickly? With technological advances enabling organizations to do more with less, law enforcement is benefitting too. From license plates readers to text-a-tip to in-car computers/tablets, the options are growing by the day.
A 2014 publication, Future Trends in Policing, made possible through a joint partnership between the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and Target, has presented results from a national forum and survey that measured and analyzed changing practices in policing. The piece focuses on the:
- Importance of building strong partnerships with the community, academia, and federal law enforcement agencies
- Use of social media to disseminate information and gather intelligence
- Growing threat of cybercrime
- Changes in workforce demographics that may result in new organizational structures for police agencies
Within the discussion, a focus on future trends of technology and its impact on law enforcement are particularly interesting,
The survey questions asked was:
Please describe any innovative ways in which your agency has incorporated technology into your overall crime fighting strategy in the space provided.
The results showed that the most common responses were: social media, cameras, CCTV, mapping and hotspots, and license plate readers, and there were also many other examples of technology in use including:
- Digital recording equipment
- Breathalyzers
- Tasers
- Biometrics
- Jail phone taps
- Paperless report writing
- Skype conferencing
- Monitoring school websites
The results don’t add up to 100% as many agencies responded that they were utilizing more than type of technology.
Leverage Technology to Keep Communities Safer
Want to learn more about how your police or law enforcement agency can leverage technology to keep communities safer? Let iRecord share with you our unique digital video and audio recording technology. To request a demo, click here. Or contact us for more information.