Application Of Smart Technology In Law Enforcement

Technology advancement has played a big part in the law enforcement throughout the years globally. As technology steps in, security measures became more effective and efficient in preventing, detecting and deterring crimes. Technology also aids in the solving of crimes for an instance, CCTVs installed on the streets allow law enforcement to replay back the footages when a crime occured to get leads to the case. In the past, members of public depended on police officers to patrol at their residential area to keep it safe. When in need of any assistance, they would proceed to the police station to make a report. Investigations would be taken thereafter the report is being made. However, with current technology advancement, it has led the law enforcement into seizing the opportuinity of smart technology which is able to aid in preventing, detecting and deterring crimes. Many countries including Singapore police force uses social media to reach out to the members of public by setting up Facebook, Instagram acounts etc and educating the community on various crimes happening and providing a platform for them to seek enquiries or sharing information to the police without hassle. This also aided in building rapport with the citizens. Police also collaborates technology into their policing work where crime-mapping software is being used to collect intelligence so as to aid in spotting, analyzing and visualizing crime patterns.

In Year 2010, Greenwich police department in United states had brought in a service namely CrimeReports. com, where cases that took place are pinned onto the town’s map. It can also be categorised by the location and reviewing back up to a month’s span. It also allows police remove information that are sensitive before releasing it out to the public. This is a initiative from the law enforcement to citizens showing transparency on the type of cases that are occuring within their town. Another take away point is when citizens are aware of the crimes, they are able to feed police with critical information when they chance upon certain things which may be related to the crimes that had taken place. Most importantly, the law enforcement are able to get the statistics and data to look out for the crime trends and putting more attention on the places which are prone to crimes taking place. Other than using crime-mapping softwares, police also installed various cameras to aid in their job. (Todayonline, 2015) In Year 2015 in Singapore, cameras were installed on their vehicles and police officers to wear body-worn cameras on them during their patrols. This means that should any crime takes place, the camera may be able to capture it and police can review it to get the description and the act of the subject. Along the years, more survillence cameras were placed around the neighbourhood in Singapore that are called PolCams. Many were installed at the housing estates and multi-storey carparks and had assisted police in tackling with crimes. (Yusof, 2017)

In Year 2016, footages from 3,400 PolCams were being used to crack 1,600 cases. Despite having the advantages of technology advancement to the law enforcement units, it also poses a bigger challenge at the same time as cyber crimes and cyber terrorism are rising in the current world. (Cilluffo, 2017) It was stated that from Year 2009 up till 2016, Avalanche which is a cybercrime network had became one of the most advanced criminal syndicates where they aided people with their expertise in technology to commit cybercrimes. The group had managed to hacked into the computer systems globally and making use of them to forward out emails weekly that motivates criminal activity. For an instance, Avalanche users are able to take over the control of computer that are hijacked to perform cyber attacks by shutting down websites for a period of time and allowing them to cause disptruption on the transactions done online or even getting the information and data of the customers. The reason why people are diving in to cyber crimes is because it offers a lower risk with high profits as criminals are able to wipe off their identities and information using technology to avoid being tracked down by the law enforcement. An instance would be in Year 2014 where criminals hijacked into large financial firms to access data of stocks in companies and getting information of investors. Stocks were bought in specific companies and fake emails were sent to investors with the objective to boost up the prices in stock.

Thereafter, the criminals would gain profits by selling their holdings. Another major concern would be cyber terrorism. Terrorists have now took another step by entering the cyberspace and taking advantage of technology advancement rather than relying on fighting physically. Terrorists have now reached out to their victims by creating sabotages and attacking their online facilities globally and keeping their identities hidden. Terrorists also spread their messages across to the world and reaching out to potential people who may be motivated by them with internet. The ideology will be displayed to perform psychological warfare so as to recruit people globally by radicalizing them using websites and platforms on social media like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube etc. DAESH for an example, had 7 agencies from the media with 37 offices in operation globally. Al-Qaeda also had The Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) and As-Sahab to strengthen their propaganda. In Year 2015 due to the increase of shutting down terrorist accounts on Facebook etc, Telegram was being ultilized because of secure use with its encryption function. DAESH and other terrorist organizations are choosing people from social media platforms to be part of them by observing their profiles on Facebook and their comments then selecting them based observation on if they are real supporters. Social media platforms were widely used by terrorist organizations not only reach out to potential new members but also to communicate and plan for attacks.

An example whould be the Mumbai attacks in Year 2008 where VoIP phone services were being ultilized. Terrorists also take the opportunity to get funding for their acitvities by getting donation through social medial platforms and Bitcoin currency. An example would be at Indonesia where it was foudn out that there was tranfer using Bitcoin made by IS organizations. Terrorist organizations also collect information of people and places online for recruitment and setting targets for their attacks. In the 11 September 2011 incident, Al-Qaeda managed to get details of flights online and it aided in the coordination of their planned attacks. They also take advantages of the internet like Dark Net to send out materials for training to guide them on carrying out attacks. With all these challenges in place, technology may have aided the law enforcement in many aspects to bring up their level in fighting crimes but at the same time, giving opportunity for the criminals to carry out more crimes that are behind the computers.