1. New Law Enforcement Technologies
CRJ 22
March 8, 2016
Dennis Huang
Bronx Community College
Professor Jonelle Knox

2. In today’s society, technologies in police departments are more advanced. In early policing
the first technology being used in the police departments was the 1 way-radio during the 1930’s.
In modern policing, officers are enhanced with new technologies to make better police
procedures. A huge progression has been seen with these new advances. Some of these new
technological advances include body cameras, CCTV cameras, smart phones, ShotSpotter, and
Automatic License Plate Recognition System.
New York City’s NYPD Commissioner William Bratton implemented the NYPD Mobility
Initiative Program which allows police officers to have the latest technologies to better fight
crime and protect the city. Commissioner Bratton distributed 41,000 smart phones and tablets to
police officers. “Mayor De Blasio said that we must have 21st century tools to deal with 21st
century threats” (Schlossberg, 2014). In today society the whole world has been implementing
new technologies because of the spread of 21st century technology increasing, many
organizations and people are using these latest technologies. The program costs $160 million to
supply majority of the police officers with smart phones and tablets. The program’s goal is to
reduce crime and protect the city against terrorists attacks. The use of smart phones and tablets is
replacing police radios, with this change, there will be faster response rate to call in/report a
crime to the commanding officer.
Another law enforcement technology that is widely used in many police departments
across America are cameras; body cameras, surveillance cameras and CCTV cameras. Body
cameras has provided the officers tools to prevent a wrongful dispute between the citizen and the
officer. The officer can simply turn on his/her body camera and record the dispute, or event
happening between the officer and the public. However this may concern a lot of citizens,
because it would be considered invasion of privacy. By equipping officers with body cameras, it
allows for a “visual evidence when a situation arises” (Schlossberg, 2014). This evidence can be
used in court to determine the type of sentence. This allows a fair judgment between the public
and the officer, this will prevent an unfair judgment. Another type of law enforcement cameras

3. are Automated License Plate Readers; this type of camera captures license plates for speeding,
drunk driving, vehicle suspected used in a crime, or criminal vehicle. In California, the Laguna
Beach Police Department had started using Automated License Plate Readers, it had been helpful
to the police in “arresting more than 30 people” (Hansen, 2016). The license plate readers cost
$100,000 which was provided by federal grants. The Automated License Plate Readers “takes
pictures, scans the license plate of the vehicle, then cross-reference the data with a stolen-vehicle
database” (Hansen, 2016). This is helpful because it provides a safer community from criminals.
Many law enforcement cameras have made an impact on reducing crime and improve officer’s
response times to crime scenes.
A recent law enforcement technology had been implemented in most police departments in
America. ShotSpotter, which is a detection to gunshot sounds, it provides a quicker response rate
for police officers and reduces injuries in pedestrians and victims. According to
ShotSpotter.com it states “ShotSpotter helps law enforcement to save lives and improve
community safety.” According to recent news, Milwaukee police had made two arrests after
gunshots were fired in a neighborhood due to the ShotSpotter technology. ShotSpotter pinpoints
the location gunshots are heard then alerts the officers to the scene of the gunshots fired. The
New York Police Department began using ShotSpotter, Commissioner Bratton placed sensors in
places where most shootings occur. Mayor Bill De Blasio stated “NYC is rolling out cutting edge
technology to make the city safer, to make our neighborhoods safer, to keep our officers safer.”
Other police departments in major cities have been using ShotSpotter to decrease injuries and
arrest criminals. ShotSpotter SST, Inc Security Solutions which had created ShotSpotter
SiteSecure and SST SecureCampus which allows safer environment in schools, shopping
centers, house of worships, government buildings, train stations, and office buildings. SST, Inc
Security Solutions adapted ShotSpotter in public places because of recent gun fatalities such as
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virginia Tech, and Sikh Temple. There will be sensors placed
in buildings so ShotSpotter can pinpoint the gunshot noises made at the surrounding locations.

4. According to the FBI Annual Report, between 2000-2013 there were 160 active shooter events,
which is an average of more than 1 per month. ShotSpotter was implemented after the FBI
Annual Report showed a high number of active shooter events.
There are several negative viewpoints towards the new law enforcement technologies. One
of the negative viewpoints consists of cost of installing the technologies. Due to cost, the
taxpayers money is a portion that goes into funding these law enforcement technologies.
However there can be some technical malfunctions in the technologies, this prevents the officer’s
from using the devices and creates fatalities in the public. The American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) has many concerns about law enforcement technologies, they explained that “the use of
video surveillance is an intrusive search without a search warrant and probable cause.”
(Schwabe, 16). Other members of the public also agreed with the ACLU; Columbia law
professor Eben Moglen stated “programs like ShotSpotter have 4th Amendment implications, it
constitutes in a warrantless search by collecting public sounds and using it as evidence”
(Schlossberg, 2015)
Overall the law enforcement technologies being used in police departments had made a
positive impact on the surrounding communities. These latest technologies helps police officers
in responding quicker to scenes, make necessary arrests, provide a safer community, reduce less
gun fatalities, and use data for evidence in court to provide a fair trial. Due to these technologies
many police department across the United States have seen a decrease in crime rates on their
departments annual crime statistics data. This provides an efficient way for modern policing by
implementing new police technologies to officers.

5. References
Bee, T. (2016, March 4). ShotSpotter technology helps Milwaukee police make two arrests in
shots fired incident | FOX6Now.com. Retrieved from
http://fox6now.com/2016/03/04/shotspotter-technology-helps-milwaukee-police-make-
two-arrests-in-shots-fired-incident/#
Hansen, D. (2016, February 12). Ready for your close-up, Lagunans? - Laguna Beach Coastline
Pilot. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/socal/coastline-pilot/opinion/tn-cpt-et-
0212-hansen-20160212-story.html
Schlossberg, T. (2014, October 24). New York City Police to Be Equipped With Smartphones
and Tablets - The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/nyregion/new-york-city-police-to-be-equipped-
with-smartphones-and-tablets.html
Schlossberg, T. (2015, March 16). New York Police Begin Using ShotSpotter System to Detect
Gunshots - The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/nyregion/shotspotter-detection-system-pinpoints-
gunshot-locations-and-sends-data-to-the-police.html?_r=0
Schwabe, W., Davis, L. M., Jackson, B. A., Rand Corporation, Science and Technology Policy
Institute (Rand Corporation), United States, & National Institute of Justice (U.S.). (2001).
Challenges and choices for crime-fighting technology: Federal support of state and local
law enforcement. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.
ShotSpotter Gunshot Detection and Location Service | Protect Critical Infrastructure, Campuses,
Cities. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.shotspotter.com/
SST, Inc Security Solutions [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TkFkK_5na0