Technology in Criminal Investigation

Criminal investigation involves obtaining evidence of criminal acts in order to assist in the arrest and prosecution of the culprits. Criminal investigators try to determine the "methods, motives, and identities of criminals" . To assist in this process, investigators have access to various technological methods such as compiled public and private data, wiretapping and other forms of electronic-surveillance . Due to the sensitivity of some of these technologies in relation to breach of privacy for citizens, there have been many ethical issues raised questioning the methods in which the federal, state, and local police departments carry out investigations.

History

During the 1700s, technology in law enforcement was extremely limited. Until the Industrial Revolution, police in most societies were still limited to “Watchmen” who patrolled communities while carrying whistles. Throughout the 1800s, the purpose of policing did not prioritize criminal investigations. Rather, officers prioritized making sure their respective politicians are voted for through brute force and intimidation using technologies such as batons or nightsticks . Thus, the police force was notorious for corruption and was ineffective in preventing crime. Another form of technology used by the police during this era were call and alarm boxes . Call boxes were stationed around communities and directedly linked communications to local police departments. Alarm boxes were located in businesses that were used to report a criminal incident or other emergencies within that business. Furthermore, it was not until mid-late 1800s that the police had transportation technologies. Before horseback patrols, police officers patrolled on foot. This new form of wagon system proved effective mainly against strikers and demonstrators . It was not until the 1900s that the police went through a reform that shifted in the direction of removing politics from policing. Throughout the 1900s, policing was removed from the hands of politicians and shifted gears towards a standardized and professional model on a state and national level. This shift established the foundation of many advancements in law enforcements such as motorized patrol vehicles, fingerprinting, improved communication systems, and record keeping .

Ethical Challenges

The ethical issues related to criminal investigation significantly vary depending on the technology being discussed. Some of these issues focus on regulation and conduct of individuals who are involved in the investigation process while others are discussed in terms of their broader impact on society.

Forensics Science

Forensics science is the intersection between science and law as forensic scientists assist "law enforcement officers, lawyers, judges, and juries in delivering justice by providing results and conclusions" by collecting and analyzing evidence . The most common forms of forensics analysis involves working with DNA and fingerprints from crime scenes, but forensics science is a broad topic that can include various sciences such as physical sciences in cases requiring ballistic testing. Since forensics science is a broad field and "individuals from various fields with adequate qualifications are employed without any statutory certification or registration", there is an "absence of any regulatory organization" that oversees misconduct and ethical breaches of protocols. Some common issues in this field is the misrepresentation of evidence by making insufficient or indiscriminate analysis to fit the case, laboratories reporting minimal results without providing sufficient explanations, and privately employed forensic scientists that are at much greater "risk of malpractice as there are less supervision, less peer review, and more financial incentive" .

References

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McCartney, C. (2006). The DNA expansion programme and criminal investigation. British Journal of Criminology, 46(2), 175-192.

Marshall, A. M. (2009). Digital forensics: digital evidence in criminal investigations. John Wiley & Sons.

Hamilton, R. J. (2020). Social Media Platforms in International Criminal Investigations. Case W. Res. J. Int'l L., 52, 213.

Hu, J. (2018, November). Big data analysis of criminal investigations. In 2018 5th International Conference on Systems and Informatics (ICSAI) (pp. 649-654). IEEE.

Khan, S., Ansari, F., Dhalvelkar, H. A., & Computer, S. (2017, January). Criminal investigation using call data records (CDR) through big data technology. In 2017 International Conference on Nascent Technologies in Engineering (ICNTE) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

Park, H., Cho, S., & Kwon, H. C. (2009, January). Cyber forensics ontology for cyber criminal investigation. In International Conference on Forensics in Telecommunications, Information, and Multimedia (pp. 160-165). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Duquenoy, P., Gotterbarn, D., Kimppa, K. K., Patrignani, N., & Wong, B. W. (2018). Addressing Ethical Challenges of Creating New Technology for Criminal Investigation: The VALCRI Project. In Societal Implications of Community-Oriented Policing and Technology (pp. 31-38). Springer, Cham.

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