Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
When I first became a police officer it was as a Military Policeman in Uncle Sam's Army. I was issued a wooden baton (often improperly called a "nightstick"), an
old Colt Government Model 1911 .45ACP handgun, a bulky radio and a pair of handcuffs. I also got a small cannister of "tear gas" or "mace". Body armor was a flack jacket and everything was carried in shined black leather no matter what the uniform of the day was. Step ahead just four years and things changed. .357 Magnum revolver instead of semi-auto handgun, polycarbonate baton instead of wood and concealable body armor. It was perceived, at that time, as an improvement.
Since the mid-eighties (when that above transition from military police to civilian police occurred) things have changed a lot. I remember that polycarbonate baton becoming a PR-24 and then a collapsible PR-24 and then an ASP friction-lock baton. Each progression made it more useful and handy. I remember my Mag-Light slowly evolving into a rechargeable polymer-bodied light that has now evolved into a handheld LED multi-function light. The .357 Magnum revolver changed to (in order as best I can remember): a Sig-Sauer P226 9mm, Beretta 92FS 9mm, Beretta 96F .40S&W, Springfield Armory XD .40S&W, Beretta PX4 .40S&W, and then (so far) Glock Model 22 .40S&W.
Other technologies have come along and evolved. The first "stun gun" I ever had was nothing more than a handheld 9-volt powered device that delivered an electric charge to the skin surface of the person exposed. The "zap" caused pain and flinching and the threat of more gained compliance - except from those who didn't care and only got angrier. Since then, electronic control devices have come a long way to the point where we are now and they are deployed from a distance and over-ride the electrical impulses which normally control muscle use. It's no longer pain compliance but instead over-riding voluntary muscle control to insure sectional shut-down of the target.
"Mace" isn't anymore. OC Spray or "Pepper Mace" has come a long way and we now use organic products instead of chemical synthetics to incapacitate suspects. Another improvement.
In that same time frame Global Positioning Systems (GPS), in-car computers and compact video systems have all been added to the game. And as I finish typing that sentence I can almost feel some of the readers thinking,
"Whoah!". Up until that point everything was good. But some of those last listed technologies receive mixed reviews from the officers who use them - or who feel that they are targeted by them. Let me explain...
I know of a police department that installed GPS systems in all of their cruisers. The police officers driving those cruisers were apprehensive at first but accepted the GPS systems because they could so easily be used to locate the officers and send help if, for some reason, the officer couldn't be reached by radio or cell phone. Unfortunately, before the GPS systems had been used to help a single officer it was used to track patrol performance and used to support disciplinary action against an officer who was out of his patrol sector during his shift. The GPS Systems were almost immediatley shown to be a double-edged sword.
When in-car computers first came along they were fantastic and appreciated. They eased radio traffic and lessened the often overwhelming workload of some dispatchers. Those same computers allowed officers to be more productive while remaining out in their patrol vehicles, reducing "down time" in the station. But when officers used those same computers to access personal email or to surf websites that were not directly duty related then another discipline situation - or
potential - discipline situation was raised. Suddenly the computers weren't as wonderful as they'd first been. Now we've even seen situations wherein dispatchers send calls to patrol officers via messages on the computers, further reducing radio traffic but also distancing the relationship between officers and dispatchers past where it's been before.
Video cameras - in all their forms - have an equally split "blessing" versus "curse" lable. Many of us have enjoyed going to court for something as simple as a Drunk Driving arrest only to have our testimony questioned - right up until the video is pulled out and there's the suspect staggering around like an (obviously) drunken fool. On the other hand, we've all seen videos captured on cell phones of police officers who may have been doing the right thing but the context the video is shown in makes the officer LOOK wrong - and the "court of the media" convicts him before an investigation is even begun or any complaint filed. Most recently in the news is an article about TASER-cams and how they are being used to justify the deployment of TASERs against subjects. I think that's fantastic.
What we need to remember is that it's not the tool that is good or bad; it's the
use we put it to that determines whether it's supportive or not. GPS can save your life. Mobile laptops offer us great versatility and can increase our performance efficiency. Videos can save our bacon in court or can give administrators one more piece of evidence against us when we mess up - and we're ALL human, so we inevitably mess up.
None of that makes the technology less valuable or desireable. Don't hate it because of how it can be used; appreciate it for the valuable tool it can be. Protect yourself from its use as a disciplinary tool or negative media tool by performing as professionally as you can at all times. Yes, you'll make mistakes. We all do. Own up to them. Don't try to cover them up. Inevitably the cover up causes more problems than the original msitake.
Your thoughts?
Stay safe!
