When I entered law enforcement as a radio operator in 1974 our NCIC computer was a TC-500. The darn thing was the size of a desk. No video, all information was received on paper. Computer screens were just a dream. Within three years the first video monitors came into play. Quicker access to information was a result and we broke out of the dark and into the light. As a side note our first screen died in an accidental discharge of a firearm - enough said.
I took my first computer crimes class in 1992. In those days the primary concern was with information stored on the home computer. The internet was in its infancy. Within the past decade we have seen the internet grow by leaps and bounds. I had no idea how important a computer would be in our world fifteen years later. Today our very existence depends on the internet for news, education, recreation, and shopping just to name a few. In-car computers, just a dream years ago, are now common place.
Transmission of sensitive materials is easily accessible by our officers. There are police videos being released on the internet without prior approval from the Chief Executive Officer of the respective police departments. My Chief is diligent in not releasing such video and appropriately so. The case may go to litigation. The statutes of limitation on law suits are two years here in Georgia. The video should remain part of the investigation until completed. In this situation it is an active case until trial.
I use police video for training. I obtain most of my video from the internet. Not long ago a video came out that had many policy violations by officers. When shown to officers from the area of the incident I was told that the police department involved was not releasing any information about the case. It was theorized that this tape was released by an officer and not the department. There were damning problems with this tape. The department is being judged by the tape with no explanation out there. It will be hard to defend in court because I suspect everyone in the community has seen the tape.
Is internal affairs really prepared for the abuse that comes with the internet? Probably not. Looking at all the possible situations an officer can get into is enormous. These are on duty and off duty. The recruits we have today grew up with computers and they can find ways to bypass settings, delete reports, alter reports, and hit the internet when they want.
Most internal affairs folks are computer savvy but cannot retrieve the information that is stored on a computer. Can we be trained? Yes, but are we prepared for the cost factor? It always comes down to money. Now let's throw a kink in the mix: A conservative estimate for investigators assigned to internal affairs is about five years or less. So, in five years we are training another investigator. It is only cost effective if we retain them for the five years. We can send the computer out for forensics. That's probably the best option we have going.
Alteration of reports is a problem agencies are not looking ahead for. Some agencies are allowing officers to go in and change a report without anything but signing in. The old report disappears and the revised version comes in. No one knows anything unless it comes to question. There are loop holes in our computer systems. There are various ways to eliminate the problems we have. Simple upgrades are one. A drop in audit is another.
We have to develop our policies to include the problems we have been dealt with or may deal with on down the road. Remember, if we institute policy we must train our folks to understand the policies and the consequences for violations.
We are held accountable to the public from open records and civilian review boards. Video in some areas are to be retained for 5 years or more. Great for us if we have a complaint arise later or in civil suits. Our computer records are now on a retention schedule. Computer memory captures all email and is open to public record. Think about that when we forward an off color joke on another person. Think about what you put in the email. Do not send anything to someone you would not want your child to see.
Don't take me wrong on this issue. We all have emailed messages that if done at our homes would be between the senders. Secondly, off duty may come in to play when our message is forwarded on. The message offends someone and is reported. However, at work we cannot tolerate these messages. We then have to answer for our conduct. Don't send inappropriate emails to or at work. It can be considered harassment, hostile work environment, and a host of other problems.
We work with extremely active open records act. We have seen email swapped between officers that later come to light in an open records request, and then result in an internal affairs investigation.
We must start being more vigilant in what we do. We have to conduct audits. We have to be big brother. We can't sit back and wait for the ball to drop on us or, worse yet, start an internal investigation and you have a mushroom cloud over the department. There are plenty of things we need to address on these issues. That is for another day.
