We have covered a lot of issues related to law enforcement in this class from its early evolution to current ethical and legal challenges. As an educated policing scholar, you have been asked to respond to any ONE of the following issues on the future of policing:
Prospective employees face a world in which there is an ever-increasing emphasis on skills, training, and education.
New technology will introduce new weapons and methods for police and criminals alike.
Impact of media
Race relations
Privatization
How will be breakthroughs in genetics, new materials, software, and thousands of new discoveries impact policing?
Use of technology and political, moral, and legal debates regarding their application in modern law enforcement and crime control.
What new potential invasions of privacy will become technologically possible?
What bio-monitoring technologies should be admitted as evidence? In what way will such breakthroughs affect interpretation of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution?
In what manner will criminal codes need to be restructured to address the use of new technologies?
It’s ironic that one of the most redeeming aspects of U.S. society is its commitment to individual freedom. Yet in times of rising crime and increased violence on the streets, the public cries out for more repressive, antidemocratic measures.
A new era beyond community and problem oriented policing.
Increased collection of data on all citizens and its use.
Police administrators at all levels should dedicate resources for probing the future and implementing their findings into decision-making at all levels within the department.
Police officer roles in an age of cyber crime and cyber security.
What new forms of organization will have to be created?
Patrol and force deployment.
Future structuring, understanding, and implementation of public-safety measures in a society that is not victimized by, but rather is the beneficiary of, its police.
Use of drones and other unmanned technologies
Facial recognition technology and CCTV