This paper discusses three emerging technologies which will revolutionize the business operations of law enforcement: databases and search engines; biometric identification systems; and electronic surveillance and tracking devices. Unfortunately, these technologies may also lead to a serious ethical conflict for law enforcement. The tools will make it easier than ever to accomplish the core business of policing: crime prevention; investigation; and intelligence gathering. The same tools, used improperly, will also lead to routine intrusions on personal privacy. These technologies have been and are being developed for the private sector, the military and the intelligence community. The vendors are now aggressively marketing them to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. The law enforcement community has embraced the technology, but without considering the long term impact. In the past, the police have abused wiretaps and other early surveillance technology. As a result, a sinister perception about police surveillance practices persists and a cumbersome bureaucracy has been imposed to control their use. Developing and establishing policies governing the use of emerging technologies can prevent these mistakes from being repeated. This paper recommends that criminal justice practitioners begin a discussion now, in advance of these technologies becoming commercially available, with a view to defining clear guidelines for their proper use.

Law enforcement officers and their suppliers face greater potential liability from adoption of new trailblazing technologies than ordinary citizens. This paper contains advice and techniques on minimizing the exposure of providers of law enforcement technology.

This paper discusses a situation where a company (licensor) requires a liability policy as a condition of a license agreement, when licensing law enforcement technologies. The purpose of this discussion is to evaluate the reasons behind the need for extensive liability policies to protect licensors when marketing their law enforcement technologies to private industry. Finding a solution to the problem, therefore reducing the potential for high liability insurance costs, would be desirable. Since the risks associated with most technologies are virtually unknown, and because such technologies are used in very unpredictable legal environments, alternative ways of guaranteeing research and development enterprises that they will be covered against product liability are needed. Without such protection, licensors may require licensees to indemnify them beyond the usual guarantees provided in a licensing agreement, which may make the license too costly for smaller businesses. When the share of the market is limited to larger corporations, competition suffers and ultimately the cost to law enforcement agencies increases.

The utilization of high resolution image processing allows forensic analysts and visualization scientists to assist detectives by enhancing field photographs, and by providing the tools and training to increase the quality and usability of field photos. Through the use of digitized photographs and computerized enhancement software, field evidence can be obtained and processed as 'evidence ready,' even in poor lighting and shadowed conditions or darkened rooms. These images, which are most often unusable when taken with standard camera equipment, can be shot in the worst of photographic condition and be processed as usable evidence. Visualization scientists have taken the use of digital photographic image processing and moved the process of crime scene photos into the technology age. The use of high resolution technology will assist law enforcement in making better use of crime scene photography and positive identification of prints. Valuable court room and investigation time can be saved and better served by this accurate, performance based process. Inconclusive evidence does not lead to convictions. Enhancement of the photographic capability helps solve one major problem with crime scene photos, that if taken with standard equipment and without the benefit of enhancement software would be inconclusive, thus allowing guilty parties to be set free due to lack of evidence.

This paper suggests ways in which human reliability analysis (HRA) can assist the United State Justice System, and more specifically law enforcement, in enhancing the reliability of the process from evidence gathering through adjudication. HRA is an analytic process identifying, describing, quantifying, and interpreting the state of human performance, and developing and recommending enhancements based on the results of individual HRA. It also draws on lessons learned from compilations of several HRA. Given the high legal standards the Justice System is bound to, human errors that might appear to be trivial in other venues can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful prosecution. HRA has made a major contribution to the efficiency, favorable cost-benefit ratio, and overall success of many enterprises where humans interface with sophisticated technologies, such as the military, ground transportation, chemical and oil production, nuclear power generation, commercial aviation and space flight. Each of these enterprises presents similar challenges to the humans responsible for executing action and action sequences, especially where problem solving and decision making are concerned. Nowhere are humans confronted, to a greater degree, with problem solving and decision making than are the diverse individuals and teams responsible for arrest and adjudication of criminal proceedings. This paper concludes that because of the parallels between the aforementioned technologies and the adjudication process, especially crime scene evidence gathering, there is reason to believe that the HRA technology, developed and enhanced in other applications, can be transferred to the Justice System with minimal cost and with significant payoff.

In the arena of law enforcement, Community Corrections is still a new concept that is evolving with every program started across the country. Unlike law enforcement and the courts that evolved from English Common law, the concept of confining someone in their home and letting them go to their job is new, radical, and, some would say, soft on crime. The hard fact is Community Corrections is a cost effective way of dealing with large numbers of offenders, who have been sanctioned, but do not need the very high cost of incarceration. The first challenge is to define what Community Corections is. How should it work? What are the duties and responsibilities of the officers? Who should operate the program, the state or the county? What qualifications should the officers have? What training should the officers have? Should they carry weapons? What is the risk to the public? Should these officers be state certified law enforcement officers? Who will train and certify officers in this field? There are many questions that have to be asked and answered before Community Corrections can 'come of age' as a legitimate sentencing alternative in the minds of the public. The second challenge is to identify the technologies that exist now and the new ones that are needed for the future of Community Corrections programs. Tracking offenders through buildings, in vehicles, and over large areas at a reasonable cost is the problem. The National laboratories are working on these problems for the military, and the solutions may apply to Community Corrections programs across the country.

New 'less than lethal' technologies being introduced into the law enforcement community will inevitably be challenged in the courts. From local jurisdictions to the highest courts in the land, law suits are filed at an alarming rate. Many are ultimately declared frivolous, but until they are resolved, all require human resources, money, and time to defend. Addressing liability issues head on could help to minimize potential law suits and the drain of our resources. Police administrators utilize education and training as tools to limit potential liability in their day to day operations. One such tool is the 'use of force continuum,' a simplistic progressive formula which identifies levels of action and reaction available to an officer when encountering any situation. Teaching an officer to understand this concept is relatively simple; the ability for that officer to correctly make a decision is more difficult. Determining where a specific action should be placed on the 'grid,' which ranges from 'officer's presence' to 'lethal encounter,' requires an officer to consider possible 'after effects' into the equation. With new attitudes emerging toward police operations, their available weapons, and applied techniques, repeated training will be necessary for this concept to remain effective. Scientists, engineers, manufacturers, and police administrators are responsible for the appropriate placement of new technology on the 'use of force continuum.' Adequate training and education should include detailed tactical, medical, and legal documentation to the police practitioner and to the public. Public education on the weapons and training used by those who 'serve and protect' them is critical to the process of achieving community acceptance and cooperation, ultimately reducing potential liability.

The cost to implement and maintain a geographic information system (GIS) is prohibitive to many local governments. It is rare that a single department or agency can burden the entire cost of the system. Consequently, in order to distribute the costs local governments are forming partnerships with those who benefit from the system. One such partnership is with law enforcement. GIS engineers and developers must understand the needs and expectations of law enforcement in order to serve this segment of the GIS market. This paper examines these needs and expectations and looks at how current GIS technology is addressing the issues.

Because law enforcement operations rely almost completely on human activities, human performance plays a significant role in the overall effectiveness of law enforcement agencies. In particular, human errors can prevent the successful conclusion of a broad range of law enforcement activities such as suspect apprehension, evidence handling, vehicle pursuits, and prosection. Failure to successfully apprehend a suspect, gather sufficient evidence for conviction, or obtain the conviction can very often be traced to human errors of one form or another. Systematic methods for identifying potential human errors and eliminating them or reducing their frequency have been developed and applied in a number of industries. The potential for application of these methods to law enforcement should be fully explored. The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has developed and applied analytic methods to identify potential human errors and to eliminate them or reduce their likelihood. These methods have been applied to the design and operation of technologies such as nuclear power plants, offshore oil platforms, nuclear medicine, and commercial aircraft. The feasibility of applying these methods to reduce human errors in law enforcement activities has been investigated by examining the risks associated with vehicle pursuit and interdiction. Based on this evaluation, the methods appear to be directly transferable to law enforcement activities. We are currently working to identify the most effective potential applications of human error analysis to law enforcement.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) operates 86 correctional institutions nationwide. The BOP has grown dramatically, the size of its inmate population growing from just over 41,000 inmates in 1987 to over 100,000 today. The number of BOP staff managing these facilities has grown correspondingly, more than doubling in number in the same ten year period. Technology has paid a major role in keeping up with this growth while maintaining high standards of security in BOP institutions. In an attempt to further enhance security in its institutions, the BOP has recently begun pilot testing an access control and entry system (ACES). ACES is intended to provide an automated record of very entry and exit to a correctional institution. ACES takes advantage of several methods of identifying an individual (inmate, staff or visitor) to assure that the individual exiting the institution is the same as the individual entering. The pilot test has raised a number of questions regarding the implementation of a technologically sophisticated system in a correctional institution. Questions of training, support, 'ownership,' cost effectiveness, and future potential all influence the deployment of this system. Preliminary results indicate that an adequate training and support system is essential to the performance of any sophisticated system and that other organizational issues need to be addressed before the decision to implement is made.

The Center for Applied Science and Technology for Law Enforcement (CASTLE) is supported by the National Institute of Justice Office of Science and Technology and is establishing partnerships with the National Law Enforcement Corrections and Technology Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Additionally, CASTLE is working with the American Society of Crime Lab Directors (ASCLD) to direct effective interface with and support of state and local crime laboratories. Extremely sophisticated, often one-of-a-kind, equipment and very-capable scientific expertise are resident at U.S. federal government laboratories and, until recently, have not been applied often to law enforcement problems, particularly at the state and local level. While there have been a number of research and development programs at national laboratories sponsored by agencies such as the National Institute of Justice, most of these have been focused on long-term objectives to meet broad national needs. In discussions with local law enforcement personnel, it is apparent that there are much more immediate technology needs, which are not being addressed by nationwide programs, in fundamental areas including video and audio surveillance, trace and physical evidence sampling, and forensic laboratory analysis. In a pilot program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a significant component of the nation's science and technology resources located in Tennessee, recently made a commitment to support law enforcement where possible with advanced technology. ORNL formed the Center for Applied Science and Technology for Law Enforcement (CASTLE), a partnership of scientific, university, private sector, and law enforcement personnel. The goal of the CASTLE program is to apply technology at the grassroots working level to both solve crimes, to improve safety to law enforcement personnel, and to improve the overall quality of law enforcement services within the United States.

This paper discusses the significance of addressing operator use, field applications, and current and future needs, as part of the critical design process when developing tools for law enforcement use. As tools are developed for a specified law enforcement purpose, the officer using the device, the circumstances where it will be used, the intended results (lethal, non-lethal, less-than-lethal), risks, and environment need to be considered if the technology is truly going to meet officer needs. Through the use of human factors engineering and human performance optimization criteria as part of the design process, these issues can be evaluated at the time of conception, where needed changes may be made. These issues need to be addressed if technologies are to be developed or redesigned to meet the law enforcement use they are intended to address. If the technology does not meet its user's specific needs, capacity to use it, and ability to use it quickly if the application requires it, its use will be suspect, if it has applicability at all. Technologies for law enforcement, like other complex system settings, have to work as intended, under the conditions imposed, and work effectively if they will protect the user, others in the vicinity, and fit the application it is used in. These issues are not simple ones to answer, yet they are important in the early design phases as considerations to be evaluated before prototype development and full field application.

There are many emerging technologies that can be used to help the law enforcement community protect the public as well as public and private facilities against ever increasing threats to this country and its resources. These technologies include sensors, closed circuit television (CCTV), access control, contraband detection, communications, control and display, barriers, and various component and system modeling techniques. This paper will introduce some of the various technologies that have been examined for the Department of Energy that could be applied to various law enforcement applications. They include: scannerless laser radar; next generation security systems; response force video information helmet system; access delay technologies; rapidly deployable intrusion detection systems; cost risk benefit analysis.

Regression analysis shows that the overall crime rate correlates with the overall arrest rate. Violent crime only weakly correlates with the violent arrest rate, but strongly correlates with the property arrest rate. Contrary to common impressions, increasing arrest rates do not significantly increase loading on incarceration facilities.

Attempting to incorporate new technology into an existing environment is often very difficult. The problems are lengthy to resolve, wrought with confusion and seldom turn out like anyone expected. This document represents an overview of one such attempt. It outlines the general areas of concern which could be affected by a transition, and potential problems that may be encountered as a result of the effort. Over the past several decades, many local, state and federal agencies are pressing for more efficient use of frequency spectrums. The urgency of this issue has grown due to the demands of several groups wanting access to these channels for commercial use. Pager systems, cellular telephones, radio systems for private businesses all demand more space. Public safety agencies are starting to fear their needs will diminish in importance as the available channel spectrums are consumed by commercial ventures. How to share these channels, purchase appropriate equipment to meet your needs, and stay within a reasonable budget are not easy tasks. Public safety agencies who rely on communication networks in the performance of their jobs also know why encryption is important. Protecting the rights of citizens as police exchange information over the air, maintaining the integrity of an investigation and officer safety are all concerns police must address each time they use a radio.