Report: Use of Technology by L.E. Increasing
A newly released survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed an uptick in various forms of technology and safety equipment among local police departments in the U.S.
The BJS Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey used data collected in 2013 and previous years and covered conducted energy weapons, license plate readers, body armor and in-car video cameras. For the first time, the survey provided statistics on body-worn cameras.
According to the survey, an estimated 32 percent of police departments provided at least some officers with body-worn cameras and 6 percent provided at least some officers with weapon-attached cameras in 2013. Since this was the first time statistics were kept on body-worn and weapon-attached cameras, no trend data is available.
The percentage of the more than 12,000 departments that used in-car video cameras in 2013 increased from 61 percent in 2007 to 68 percent.
Nearly 90 percent of departments were using some type of video camera technology in 2013. This included an estimated 17 percent that used automated license plate readers and about 49 percent that used video cameras for the surveillance of public areas. Less than 1 percent of these departments also used unmanned aircraft systems and 4 percent used gunshot detection systems.
The number of departments authorizing the use of conducted energy weapons such as Tasers and stun guns increased more than tenfold between 2000 and 2013, from 7 percent to 81 percent.
In 2013, 71 percent of departments required uniformed patrol officers to wear protective body armor at all times while in the field. Departments with a mandatory armor requirement employed 82 percent of all local police officers in 2013, compared to 67 percent in 2007 and 25 percent in 1990.
The percentage of police officers employed by a department that provided in-field computer access also increased. Local police departments providing remote access to vehicle records employed 93 percent of all officers in 2013, compared to 86 percent in 2007. In 2000, 25 percent of departments transmitted incident reports electronically from the field, but that number increased to nearly 70 percent by 2013.
Also in 2013, about 9 in 10 departments allowed their officers to use pepper spray and batons. A majority of local police departments authorized defensive physical tactics including open-hand, takedown and closed-hand techniques. Less than 20 percent of departments allowed neck-restraint tactics.
Findings are based on data from the LEMAS survey, which included all agencies that employed 100 or more sworn officers and a nationally representative sample of smaller agencies.
About the Author
Paul Peluso
Editor
Paul Peluso is the Managing Editor of OFFICER Magazine and has been with the Officer Media Group since 2006. He began as an Associate Editor, writing and editing content for Officer.com. Previously, Paul worked as a reporter for several newspapers in the suburbs of Baltimore, MD.