It's cheaper, more powerful, more available, and more mobile. .
IT improvements may soon drive more of those decisions down to the street level, as patrol officers and investigators work to prevent lawbreaking in the first place and quickly apprehend perpetrators once crimes have occurred. .
Increasing prevalence of wireless, Internet-enabled systems and inexpensive mobile computing allows real-time access not just to a central computerized repository of an offender's record of arrest and incarceration, but also to his or her movements across areas. Some of the most advanced systems feature monitoring of parolees or those under house arrest, who can be outfitted with electronic devices that are tracked by the Earth-girding array of global positioning satellites. .
According to Tommy Sexton, director of the Justice Department-affiliated National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, Southeast Region, in Charleston, S.C. of the 18,769 local law enforcement agencies in the United States, 80 percent are using computers, according to Ninety-five percent of the nation's police officers work in or around departments where computer use is routine. .
"It's uncommon today to find local law enforcement without at least some automation,"" Sexton said. "The next step will be movement toward regional systems and analytical tools to help improve day-to-day operations. That should mean better and more patrols and more effective criminal investigations."" 2.
Just within the last year, integration of criminal justice technologies has played a huge role in solving cases. The FBI Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), part of which debuted in July 1999, was developed to offer rapid suspect identification to American law enforcement agencies and organizations where criminal background histories are a critical factor in consideration for employment.
