Computers are taking over your world!
That's probably not news to most readers of this column, but even the most tech-savvy people are often surprised at the extent to which we all rely on computers. Police and corrections officers are no exception; we are all impacted by multiple computers on a daily basis.
Of course, the idea that computers are all over the place frequently leads to the conclusion that they are making our lives easier, and that's often true. The days of typing a report and running a teletype on someone are long gone. Now we're using sophisticated PCs and other high-speed gear to do our work more quickly, safely and efficiently than ever before.
I wonder how all the former typewriter repair people and white-out manufacturers are getting along.
Your patrol units are run by computers, and your communications set-up is really just one big computer network. Many of you have a computer in your wristwatch (assuming you still wear one), and most of your telephone calls go through the computer, i.e. cell phone, in your pocket (probably via Bluetooth) to the computer in your friend's pocket.
When I came on the job, police work was decidedly low-tech. You had a sidearm (usually a revolver) and maybe a baton. One was based on technology that had been around for over a hundred years, while the other's design originated when the first caveman picked up a stick to clobber something for lunch.
Communications were just past the hand-cranked magneto stage, and calling the station meant finding a pay phone. In the jail, cell doors - at least many of them - were keyed and opened by hand. If you wanted to know if a cell door was secure, you grabbed it and yanked. Now you check an indicator light on a console.
Even our weapons are getting computerized. The most obvious example of this is the ECD, or electronic control device, that you're probably carrying right now. However, researchers have been working on firearms that are - at least in part - controlled via electronic circuits for years.
Many of us rely on computer-based technology for things as ubiquitous as phone service and cable television. Even if we have an old fashioned land line hooked to what is called (believe it or not) the POTS (plain old telephone system), and are watching old Hill Street reruns with rabbit ears, we couldn't get phone service and television programming without the service providers having sophisticated, computerized systems.
Everyone uses email... well, not everyone. I have one friend that refuses to have a computer in his house. However, I can still email him, I just have to send it to his wife at her office, and she prints it out and takes it to him. Still, most of us rely on email for a big part of our daily communication.
What started me thinking about this was a visit I made last week for some training at a certain Arizona company that specializes in ECD technology. This training was all about customer service and technology; how to use the technology, how to train with it, and how to provide support for the customer service effort. This particular company's weapons are carried and used by many of you reading this right now, and they want to deliver good training and support along with a good product.
But consider this: Up to now, policing has been pretty much a manual world when it came to making an arrest, or controlling behavior through force. Even our most sophisticated firearms are basically still mechanical, manually operated systems. Our restraint devices are - for the most part - manual, mechanical devices as well. And the primary tools for controlling another person physically, our hands, are decidedly manual.
However, a few years ago, departments began using ECD weapons, and that really started something. As Chiefs realized the degree to which ECDs could reduce injuries to officers and suspects, more and more departments began providing them to the troops, and putting them on the street.
ECDs brought with them new issues and, in some cases, new problems that need solutions. Law enforcement is working very hard, as are manufacturers, researchers, administrators and the legal community, to find the answers to those issues and problems. In the meantime, ECDs are already developing a solid record of great utility, accompanied by very little down side. But that's not what this column is really about.
Here's the thing: As we move forward into a future that can only be more laden with technology, mostly run by or with computers, we need to grow our thinking. We need to be aware that, along with the great new equipment that is making our lives easier, there is a whole new set of concerns evolving.
We never worried about pictures being deleted from our crime scene investigation file before; we just stuck the pictures and negatives into an envelope and stapled it to the report.
We didn't worry about the software in our weapon becoming corrupted, or needing updating, or even if there was a battery in the weapon. We just made sure our firearm was loaded and we were good to go.
We didn't much think about getting our picture taken doing something we shouldn't (or even just being accused of it by someone with photos), since most people didn't walk around with a camera in their pocket. Now, with almost everybody we encounter having a cell phone within reach, 95 percent of which have built in cameras, we need to assume that everything we do is being photographed or videotaped.
In fact, there are systems being pilot tested and refined right now that will, among other things, enable officers to wear a tactical computer, along with a recording unit. Aside from whatever other capabilities manufacturers build into these systems, they will also make it possible for an officer to provide his or her own audio/video record of what transpired during an event. Like dash cam video, this new technology will save more officers' careers than it will harm.
We are pretty much past the point where officers can have the attitude that they don't need to know how something works, or how it's built; they just need to know how to use it. Increasingly, officers will have to know a lot more about their tools, equipment and weapons, so that they can safely and effectively use them in the way that they are intended to be used, and then document the use for whatever process occurs next - be it an investigation, criminal trial or lawsuit.
Computers and technology are indeed taking over our world, and that's a good thing. In fact, many young officers coming on-board expect the technology to be there, and are comfortable with it. The rest of us old geezers will just have to catch up.
Stay safe, and wear your vest!
