POLICE DEPARTMENT

POLICE DEPARTMENT

1. The Dark Web

   • The dark web is a very secure network where people can communicate with total anonymity. It is also a place where nearly any form of illegal item, drugs, machine guns, explosives, slaves, etc. can be bought and sold without any worry. It is also a recruiting and training ground for extremist organization such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). There is evidence that this is becoming more and more prevalent and presents many challenges to law enforcement. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/taking-dark-web-law-enforcement-experts-id-investigative-needs
   • The dark web presents a rather unique challenge to law enforcement in the fact that it is a global system. A person may be in Boston talking to someone in Moscow. The person in Boston may fall under the jurisdiction of the Boston Police, MA State Police, and the FBI, but how does law enforcement counter the person in another country? It presents challenges for the partnerships of law enforcement agencies from one country to the next. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/taking-dark-web-law-enforcement-experts-id-investigative-needs

2. Body Worn Cameras

   • Challenges presented by BWC have come to light in recent times. First and foremost, BWC and specifically the storage of footage is extremely expensive. Second, they raise possible privacy issues for officers, suspects, witnesses, and victims. BWC Footage is public record and may be requested in accordance with public record laws. This raises the question of how recordings of privileged information, private property, individuals in compromising situations, etc. will be disseminated in accordance with public record laws. https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/media/document/north-carolina-district-attorneys_best-practices-committee_body-worn-cameras-concerns-and-considerations.pdf
   • Body worn cameras (BWC) have become a hot button issue in the wake of high profile police shootings. Their implementation has been intended to promote transparency about the police departments and shed light on possible misconduct by police officers. They also could increase officer civility and decrease the number of frivolous complaints alleged against officers. The camera is intended to be an objective witness which can aid to the veracity of an officer's police report, help in investigations, or serve to expose misconduct. They also serve a a training aid for police officers nation wide who can learn from the mistakes or good tactics exhibited by other officers. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/body-worn-cameras-what-evidence-tells-us

3. Social Media

   • Social media has connected the world like never before. Social media has also connected police departments with a larger community. This has led to some positives in police work in general. Through posting pictures of people of interest or searching public postings, police departments have used social media to solve crimes and get dangerous items such as drugs and guns off the street. https://www.police1.com/police-products/investigation/investigative-software/articles/thinking-outside-the-box-police-use-of-social-media-to-catch-criminals-BpqcW6HgINn9l8G4/
   • Social media has also presented challenges for law enforcement as well. Because social media sites have given people a platform to have their voice heard, this has led to scrutiny of police officers based of things they have said, shared, or “liked” on social media platforms. Police departments have also faced the challenge of their officers and their conduct being recorded and posted on social media. These videos can have little or no context and can portray officers in a negative light without presenting a complete picture. Videos from incidents can very rapidly become national concerns because of the ease with which information can be shared on social media. https://abcnews.go.com/US/dangers-social-media-law-enforcement-center-stage-amid/story?id=64252037

4. Global Positioning Systems

   • GPS has proved to be a powerful tool for law enforcement. It does raise some privacy issues though. In the past, law enforcement has been provided past GPS location data from cell phone companies. A person’s movements could be accounted for because of the location of their cell phone for a given time period. Since cell phones have become so ubiquitous and often, they track the whereabouts of the phone constantly, it is easy to see how this information might be valuable to law enforcement. It was found to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment however in the 2018 SCOTUS case of Carpenter v. US. The ease with which a person’s past travels can be tracked by their cell phone is concerning and its use by law enforcement should be regulated. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-402
   • Law enforcement have also used the actual location of a person’s cell phone in order to locate criminals and people who may be in danger by “pinging” the location of the phone through the phone companies. This has required little justification in the past and has been readily supplied to law enforcement. In Massachusetts in 2019 however, the Supreme Judicial Court (highest court in MA) ruled that this was a violation of the US Constitution and the MA Declaration of Rights. Police now need a warrant or exigent circumstances in order to request the actual location of a cell phone. Again, because of the fact that nearly everyone has a cell phone in today’s age, the ability of the police to find your location via your cell phone is concerning. https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/04/police-need-warrant-or-exigent-circumstances-to-ping-cell-phones-supreme-judicial-court-rules.html