Managing Public Safety Technology

Deploying Systems in Police, Courts, Corrections, and Fire Organizations

Jeffrey Rose, Donald Lacher

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781315397849
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Corruption & Misconduct
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Divided into four sections—public safety agencies, key issues like interoperability and cybercrime, management skills, and emerging trends like the transfer of military technologies to civilian agencies, Managing Public Safety Technology illustrates how essential managing technology is to the success of any project. Based on the authors' years of experience dealing with information systems and other tools, this book offers guidance for line personnel, supervisors, managers, and anyone dealing with public safety technology.

Designed for current or future public safety personnel, especially those in management, Managing Public Safety Technology can also be used for undergraduate and graduate public safety management and leadership programs.

UNIT 1

Overview of Public Safety Organizations

Unit 1 provides public safety personnel and criminal justice students with some foundational information about public safety organizations and about how technology plays an important role in the management of personnel and operations. This includes law enforcement, corrections, courts and fire services. The corresponding chapters discuss contemporary issues, current and emerging technology and the ways public safety personnel can navigate through the technology process.

This unit covers the following:

• Chapter 1—Public Safety Technology

• Chapter 2—Law Enforcement

• Chapter 3—The Court System

• Chapter 4—Corrections

• Chapter 5—Fire Services

1

PUBLIC SAFETY TECHNOLOGY

“We pass bills authorizing improvements and grants. But when it comes time to pay for these programs, we’d rather put the money toward tax breaks for the wealthy than for police officers who are protecting our communities.”

—David Price

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, the student will:

• Understand the history of technology used in public safety organizations.

• Be able to explain the different types of technology used in law enforcement, courts, corrections and fire safety.

• Know and understand how technology affects public safety organizations, the criminal justice system and the community.

• Identify resources that can assist in technology projects.

Introduction

Public safety managers play an important role when dealing with technology. Managers must research, implement and evaluate technology on a regular basis. Technology is expensive and sometimes controversial. In this chapter, we deal with the basic foundation of public safety technology and define why technology is an important aspect of law enforcement, corrections, courts and fire services. We also discuss how and why the military and the private sector have a big part in public safety organizations. This chapter also includes a list of resources that public safety managers can utilize when researching or implementing a technology project or purchasing equipment.

Why Do We Care about Technology?

The term technology is defined as “the use of science in industry, engineering, etc., to invent useful things or to solve problems, a machine, piece of equipment, methods, etc., that is created by technology.”¹ When we think about the word technology, we often think about science fiction movies. Movies often showcase what is possible in society. However, technology used in Hollywood can and is used in public safety agencies around the world. Technology is all around us whether we like it or not. The real question is: Does technology have a place in public safety? Why should public safety managers care about technology? Technology in public safety has evolved by the implementation of new instruments and advances in science. Technological advances like the use of a computer in a police car, biometrics, DNA, or telemedicine technology has forever changed the way public safety agencies operate. Technological advancements in public safety continue to grow at an exponential rate, much as they do for all professions.

The explosive growth of technology in the public safety field does not come without controversy. Communities across the country often debate the use of technology in public safety because technology can sometimes infringe on one’s civil rights. For example, the use of unmanned aircraft or drones has created issues with law enforcement, corrections and fire services just in the last year. Opponents of drone technology argue that the drones violate their fourth amendment rights as a citizen because the drone can look into a bedroom window or monitor their daily activities.

Regardless of the controversy, technology in public safety is essential. Administrators and managers in public safety must continue to look for technology that supports their overall operational needs.

Introduction to Public Safety Technology

Since the industrial revolution, society has become more and more dependent on technology. Technology has changed how we live our daily lives. Have you ever become upset over how much time it takes to download a document on your computer? Society expects technology to make our lives easier and more efficient. Public safety managers can and should use technology when appropriate. However, public safety involves humans and technology itself cannot replace a cop on the beat or a fireman responding to a house fire.

Over the last thirty years, our society has been transformed by the developments in technology. American and international businesses have utilized information technology to transform organizations, seek out and open new markets and firmly establish relationships with international partners. During the same time in history, public safety organizations have had to shift from draconian methods and adopt corporate models to meet the needs of their customers—the public. Mimicking our corporate cousins, the public safety sector has embarked on a crusade to channel change within their organizations.

For years, the public sector has groomed their employees to become change agents. By expanding their trust, public safety executives have encouraged their subordinates to seek innovative strategies to satisfy customers, improve efficiency and find new funding sources. The most pivotal example is finding new technologies to improve data storage, retrieval, analysis and evaluation of services.² For example, law enforcement agencies are currently operating in a community policing model. In this model, law enforcement organizations develop strategies to solve problems at the neighborhood level and improve the quality of life for its inhabitants. No longer are the police relying on numbers of arrests to help reduce crime.

Arresting suspects is only one strategy in a long list of tools utilized by law enforcement to deter and reduce crime. Public safety organizations have learned that key to success is building trust, anticipating the needs of their clients and improving communication with residents. For example, public sector agencies that utilize social media are able to disseminate vital information to the public about wanted criminals, lost children, and natural or manmade disasters. In contrast, it is now common for public safety employees to find themselves being disciplined for inappropriate postings on their personal social media sites. Applicants for public safety employment many times find themselves failing the background investigation process by posting information about their past or present criminal behavior.

Throughout this book, we explore the challenges of managing technology. The technology we examine is divided into several major components: first responder technologies, communication, surveillance, data collection and retrieval and forensic analysis. We also examine the impact of transnational crime and terrorism on technology and effective responses by the technology manager.³

Managing and utilizing technology does present challenges to employees in the public safety sector. Technology poses significant risks to executives, managers, end users, and organizations. These risks come in two main types: technology risks and human risks. First, there is the risk that the technology does not work or improve efficiency. Other problems associated with technology implementation are projected costs versus real costs, unanticipated maintenance issues and unintended consequences of the new technology.

Human risks include resistance to using the technology. Older workers may find the onslaught of technology and constant change unsettling. Organizations who move too slowly to adapt to new technology may find that when a particular technology is implemented it may already be outdated. Examples in the arena include communication- and computer-based technologies. The main human risk to consider is the danger of new technologies to the end user and the public. Technologies utilized in law enforcement, corrections, fire services and the military can be physically dangerous to humans. Lack of training and the inability to utilize technology appropriately may cause injury to the user or the public. An example of human risk impact is the use of new technologies in use-of-force events. Managers who select and implement human risk technology sometimes fail to consider the potential cost of civil litigation by employees or defendants who are injured by application of technology.

The evolution of data collection and retrieval systems has produced astounding results. Examples include computer aided dispatching, crime mapping, and crime intelligence systems. Computer aided dispatch (CAD) is a component of the department’s automated record keeping system. Call takers are able to enter vital information in real-time and store and retrieve that information later for use in solving crimes or identifying suspects. All this information is available from dispatchers or in car computer systems. Information such as vehicle license plates, suspicious persons, tattoos and other key information has vastly improved crime and problem-solving issues for communities. Combining CAD with facial recognition software and vehicle license plate reading systems have helped identify suspects committing crimes and terrorist attacks.

Area maps with different colored stickpins indicating criminal activity have been replaced by crime mapping technology. Crime mapping technology combines geographical information with crime statistics to produce usable maps to display location, dates and times and types of criminal events.⁴

Today, many law enforcement officers have laptops in their patrol cars linked to their department’s CAD system. Officers routinely access their databases to retrieve vehicle registrations and driver’s license information, criminal history profiles on offenders and other vital information. In California, a database known as Cal Gang allows officers to search gang membership, monikers, tattoos, vehicles and gang symbols to help solve crimes.

What Is Your Role in Technology?

Public safety personnel are usually divided into three categories: line staff, supervisors and managers. Technology affects all three categories and is essential to their core function. Line staff uses the technology. They utilize the technology on a daily basis and are paramount to the overall success of any technology project. In order to gain support from the line staff, technology must be easy to use. Not every cop on the beat has extensive technical background. If the piece of equipment is too difficult to use, more than likely the officer will not use it. The equipment must also have a purpose. Does the equipment help an officer solve crime, locate stolen vehicles or process inmates inside of a correctional facility? Perhaps the equipment is used to save a life after a traffic accident. Public safety personnel can easily see the importance of the aforementioned technology; thus this type of technology will most likely be successful and used by the line staff on a regular basis.

Supervisors use and provide oversight of technology. Supervisors must understand and support technology. If the supervisor does not support the technology, his or her subordinates will generally do the same thing. The supervisor should also ensure that the technology is used properly to prevent any errors or misconduct. Supervisors can also use technology to train employees when necessary. Finally, because supervisors are usually in the field, they can use technology to analyze and plan activities. The use of crime analysis is a perfect example. As previously mentioned in this chapter, supervisors can deploy personnel to high crime areas based on crime trends or patterns.

The final category is the manager. Managers, either sworn or civilian, are the decision makers for the technology project. They are tasked with the overall responsibility to evaluate the cost of the technology versus the benefits and must ensure that the taxpayer’s money is spent wisely. Managers must be able to justify the expense of any technology project or procuremen...