The Use of Technology in Criminal Justice

Biometrics is described as the use of human physical features to verify identity and has been in use since the beginning of recorded history. Only recently, biometrics has been used in today’s high-tech society for the prevention of identity theft. In this paper, we will be understanding biometrics, exploring the history of biometrics, examples of today’s current technology and where biometrics are expected to go in the future.

In July of 1999 the fingerprint was introduced into the IAFIS. The FBI had so many fingerprints on file that in order to convict someone it would take years for them to be able to match a fingerprint. This database created a way for it to be completed faster and more efficient. The data is taken first with directly indefinable characteristics (name, social security, address, telephone number, email, biometric identifiers, photography) and then entered in the with non-indefinable characteristics (gender, race, birthdate, license number) to create personal file. The database is maintained by the FBI to keep all of the fingerprints in line. But, many agencies (federal, state, local and foreign) can use the database on order to make sure a suspect isn't linked with any other crimes and to identify the

Biometrics is a method of identifying an individual based on characteristics that they possess, typically physiological features such as a fingerprint, hand, iris, retina, face, voice, and even DNA. Some methods of biometrics security even use multiple physiological features or multimodal biometrics to provide superior security than a single form of biometrics can provide. Why are biometrics important in the field of information security? Biometrics provide a remarkable amount of security for information because biometrics are unique to each person, and thus cannot be lost, copied, or shared with another individual. This security allows for biometrics to provide a means to reliability authenticate personnel. The importance of biometrics can be further divided into the history of biometrics and why it was devised, past implementations of biometrics, current implementations of biometrics, and future implementations of biometrics.

Law enforcement and the criminal justice system depend upon technology to carry out their many demands. Many programs are created to ensure the security and effectiveness of the criminal justice system while improving the technological capacities of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Technology has impacted the communication capabilities of specialized databases in the criminal justice system in a substantial manner. The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and

After committing a crime on August 24, 1985, Ramirez left several fingerprints on a car that he stole. His fingerprints led to police being able to identify him by using an automated fingerprint indexing system (AFIS). Today, many law enforcement agencies use this technique. In fact, the Ramirez case was actually among the first major cases to use it. After the Night Stalker’s identification, the police were able to release his mugshot to the public which later led to his

Information and communication technology has brought numerous admirations to law enforcement. A variety of things such as reconstruction of crimes scenes, and the sharing of evidence between agencies has altered the way police do business. New technology that is improving consists of crime mapping, computer-assisted training, geographic profiling, compstat, etc. Each of these provide several advantages to law enforcement their for improving the work they are doing. As new technology is created law enforcements officer are improving in their work because information and communication technology is making their jobs easier. Things that officer were once not able to do they can now do within minutes even seconds. An example would be crime mapping;

The history of law enforcement originates from English origin with the London Police Department. Sir Robert Peele enacted policies to improve policing. The London Police Department was militaristic in its ways and set the ground work for what we know of law enforcement today. The United States followed the British models and county sheriffs collected taxes and supervised elections. The first American form of law enforcement began with the Night watchmen, which were not well received (Fix, 2016).

When fingerprints are discovered at a crime scene whether on a door knob or attached to a body found at the scene, it must be documented. The same process of rolling fingerprints in ink and placing the prints on the 10-point print card must be used as well. The reason for this is quite simple, for instance if a body is found with no identification, one way to possibly identify the individual would be to roll their fingerprints and enter them into the fingerprinting system. This process may identify the victim if the prints are in the system and provide information about who the victim was so that the individuals family could be notified. Another scenario would be finding a murder weapon at a scene such as a gun, dusting for prints, lifting those prints and entering them into the AFIS system to try and find who could have possibly committed the crime. These explanations can provide crucial information to a crime scene which makes it extremely important to the investigation

Computer technology in policing is helpful in the field because made communication easier for the field officer who are deployed. Computer-aided dispatch was very handy because it developed an easier way to take 911 emergency calls. Computer aided dispatch system also regularly maintains the status of each police officer and their location, so that they can dispatch officers to the nearest emergency scene. For example, Lindsay, Rachael, Thomas W. Jackson, and Louise Cooke author of "Adapted Technology Acceptance Model for Mobile Policing." States, “Technology is currently used to support policing in several ways, such as database systems to record crime details and geographic information systems to profile the characteristics of local policing

Facial recognition has been widely used for identifying terriorist and criminals. The U.S. government has recently begun a program called US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology), aimed at foreign travelers gaining entry to the United States. (4)When a foreigners applies for his/her visa in US Ambassy, he/she will submit fingerprints and have his/her photograph taken. The fingerprints and photograph will then be compared with the exsiting database and to be determined if they match the records of exsiting criminals and terrorists.

Historically, technological innovation has served as the substance for intense changes in the organization of police work and has presented both opportunities and challenges to police and other criminal justice practitioners, according to Janet Chan, a social scientist who has studied how information technology affects the way police do their jobs.1 Noting that .information is the stock-in- trade of policing,. Chan has identified three general imperatives driving law enforcement’s evening investment in information technology. Using information technology in policing has add that more efficiency to the police department. Comparing the old-fashioned way of patrolling the streets to combat crime to then use them of using technology to predict the crime area and patrolling in advance deters crimes from happening. There are many advantages associated with using information technology in policing. Comparative analysis shows that using information technology (IT) to combat crime has save lot of resources and time in the police department. There are a number of other advantages that can be associated with the use of information technology in the police department.

Biometric methodologies emerged into existence in 1858 by use of recording hand images for identification purposes. From 1858 to 1896 studies progressed in the identification of individuals by hand geometry, a person’s measurements, and fingerprints. From the year 1936 to 1985 biometric studies proceeded for iris pattern, face recognition, acoustic speech, written signature, and hand identification. Patents for hand and iris identification became a reality 1985 to 1986 and in 1988 the first semi-automated facial recognition system was deployed. By 1991 face recognition is automated with the ability of detecting faces in real-time. By the mid to late 1990’s biometric methodologies evolves and is integrated into technology allowing the practice of fingerprint, palm systems, and iris identification to become more reliable with increased automation capabilities. Studies therefore increased and biometric technology became even more advanced in the early 2000’s up until today’s time.

Report writing is very important when it comes to the Criminal Justice System. Reports are narratives that officers write to keep record of day to day incidents that they encounter during the work day. It is very important that the reports are written properly and in the correct format with as many details as possible because they can be looked at by superior officers, used in debriefings, or can be subpoenaed for court cases. Technology plays a big role in properly preparing the reports because the technology is used to prepare the report. Current technology used to prepare the reports are computers, storage systems, and reporting systems. There are also future technology that will help write reports more accurately.

The most essential part of everyday life is communication, this allows people to express information to each other. Within today’s world, technology has changed the communication techniques with new advances that have evolved. This statement is true within the personal lives of the people and at their workplaces. The new technology within the criminal justice system has modified the communication capabilities with specializes databases. The Automated Fingerprint Identification System, also know has the AFIS will discuss with the Facial Recognition and both databases will be compared. The positive and negative effect of both databases will explored and the use of both databases and

Face recognition has been a topic of active research since the 80’s, proposing solutions to several practical problems. It has been a challenging job for the researchers to develop a facial recognition system with 100% accuracy because of all the difficulties and limitations. As we know that the human face changes after a short period of time so no facial recognition system can work perfectly after a few years. It has to be updated with the latest database images of the person in order to verify the person. Also wearing spectacles, mask, mustaches may also affect the output of the face recognition system. Face recognition is a biometric which is much easier to understand, because we recognize or identify different people mostly by their faces. However the recognition process used by the human brain for identifying faces has not a concrete explanation. It has now become essential to have reliable security systems in