Less Than Lethal Weapons

 For this week's topic that follows my blog of technological advancements in law enforcement, I'd like to take a look at some of the sophisticated weaponry available to police departments today, that are known as "less than lethal weapons".

 First off, notice the term "less than lethal", this term was coined for these weapons as an alternative to deadly force used to subdue a subject. The term used to be known as "non lethal" however, it was replaced as many automatically assumed that non lethal weapons should not cause any harm to the subject. The fact of the matter is although these weapons shouldn't kill you, they could cause serious injury.

 One of the most common piece of less than lethal weaponry is in the form of a bean bag shotgun or rubber bullet shotgun. This is used in instances of crowd control when crowds get rowdy. Bean begs and or rubber bullet/pellets are fired from the shotgun striking an individual. If used correctly the side effects should simply be a large welt on the non-compliant individual. Below is a picture of a beanbag shotgun and its rounds. The beanbag shotgun has been criticized for causing severe injury in people when the round goes array and hits a critical feature of their body. All too often people blame the weapon and not the user. The weapon is designed to do the job it's supposed to do, however its path of trajectory is totally dependent upon the operator.

 In the past decade one of the most popular less than lethal weapons is the electronic taser. The taser has been widely criticized and researchers go back and forth on whether or not the taser was the cause of death in instances where people have died from being struck with the weapon. The taser was developed as a modern day electronic "stun gun". There are two ways to deploy the taser, you can drive the weapon into the subjects upper thigh area, known as a "drive stun" or you can deploy two metal probes (think fish hooks), into the non compliant subjects body area, which creates two current points for the electric current to travel. Either way, the taser is designed to deploy a short burst of high voltage electric current that will leave the subject momentarily incapacitated. This allows for officers to take control of the subject and handcuff him/her in the proper manner. I personally have seen the taser work in a situation where I responded to a house burglary. The subject came from the house as I approached, I confronted the suspect who refused to show me his hands. Given the magnitude of the crime, and his refusal to obey my commands further putting me in fear that he had a weapon, my partner deployed the taser, temporarily incapacitated the suspect and handcuffed him. Found on his person was a loaded subcompact pistol.

 These two weapons are only two of the most common used less than lethal weapons available to law enforcement today. Do a search for less than lethal weapons on the Internet and there are all sorts of products out there today. Although some of them are criticized, until you use them in a real life situation where it actually saves your life as well as the suspects life, criticism should be limited.

JQuery Experiences and Ideaas

 For this week's assignment we were introduced into the world of JQuery to help add features to our blogs. With a few lines of code we were able to change the background of our blogs so that the color green fades in during a 10 second duration after the page has loaded.

 Other features available using JQuery are the ability to drop and drag certain areas of the page. By doing this you can re-arrange the look of the page and order certain blog posts appear. I particularly like JQuery's ability to be able to return the blog to its original settings just by hitting the refresh button on the page.

 Some of the ideas discussed amongst other students in this weeks discussion forum related to using JQuery to make a game or puzzle and add it to the blog page. This is particularly useful if you want to add something different to your blog. Maybe one of the features of your blog could be that every picture within the text could start out as a puzzle and as you go through and read the text, it breaks up the reading a little bit so you get to form the picture that is intended for viewing within the page.

 These are just a few of the ideas that could be applied to our own blogs using JQuery.

Web Site Idea

 Throughout the course we have been working on creating our own simple web pages that perform basic functions. This week we have been asked to think of an interactive web page of our own. Provided  that we knew how to create more involved pages, what would we come up with? I've read several of the posts on the discussion board from class and have really liked some of the ideas that have been presented.

 First off, my own page that I'd create would involve sporting events and the specific visiting teams that come to play the home team and link it to a ticket site. A lot of times as adults, work, family, and other responsibilities get in the way of leisure. This includes one of my favorite things to do when relaxing, watching sports. As a result, I can't keep track of when other teams that I'd enjoy going to see play come to Boston. This page would allow for alerts through email to be sent when a visiting team that you enjoy is playing in your area. It would then link directly to a ticket website to purchase the tickets. The alerts would be sent out through email or text message on a frequency schedule that allows you as the user can adjust to your liking. For instance perhaps you want to know 3 weeks in advance when a team is coming into Boston. You get the initial alert and then you select how often you want this alert to come to you. Maybe you set it so that starting on a certain date it reminds you every other day or every 3rd day, until the actual event itself. This would avoid turning on the TV the day of and realizing one of your favorite players is coming into town to play and you realize that it's too late to try and get tickets and set up babysitting if need be.

 As far as ideas from other students, someone brought up the idea of creating a page where AAA could be alerted as to roadside assistance issues. Often times AAA is criticized for their response times. Time of response varies from 25 minutes to an hour and a half based on call volume and location of the person in distress. This leaves the caller wondering how much time they actually have to sit on the side of the road for a response. With the suggested page, AAA would alert them of their expected arrival times and keep them updated as to where they stand in the process. This would be great to get a few updates along the way, giving you an email or text message at certain points during the response, for instance "dispatched", "enroute", and "arrived". With the estimated time to actually reach you constantly being updated. I think a lot of people would be much happier with AAA if they got into doing something like this. We are a society on the go constantly now, and I think where people get frustrated is we are no longer told an accurate range of time for the expected service to arrive, everything nowadays is given too wide of a range for anyone to know how accurate the given times really are.

Interactive Web pages

This week we have been instructed on our two blog posts for our blog, so I will continue with the subject matter of technology in police work next week.

 For this week, we have been asked to share our experiences on creating interactive web pages thus far. As I've stated before, I knew this course would be challenging, however if you follow the weekly instructions step by step and don't fall behind it's very easy to keep up with.

 The one downside of making these web pages is the sensitivity that comes with writing computer code. One extra comma or forgetting to close a line of html code throws the entire thing off and leaves you spinning your head as to why the program isn't working. I've sat for lengthy periods of time wondering what I'd done wrong only to find out that I forgot to close a line of code, or when referencing the document I typed it in using a capital letter as opposed to lower case.

 All in all I don't think I could ever enjoy creating websites from scratch for a living, it is however a nice feeling when you see the results of the work you've put in. It has also without a doubt given me a new found appreciation for those who are involved in this line of work. These web pages that we are creating are very basic, I can only imagine the time and effort it takes for code writers of intricate pages!

Online Forms Through Police Department Websites

 This week we have learned how to embed feedback forms within the simple websites that we have created. Providing feedback to the site creator is a great way for people to make suggestions on how to improve upon what they have already accomplished. But feedback forms are only one example of forms that web designers use in order to reach their audience.

 Most local police departments nowadays have adjusted to life with the Internet. Even the smallest of departments have some form of a website where contact information is listed. Some bigger departments however, have embedded feedback forms for the public to provide feedback on the services that the police department is providing. This feedback can be a simple suggestion page to suggestions on where and when to do traffic enforcement. As small as some towns are, it is difficult for officers to be in the same place all of the time. With help from the public, especially residents of a certain area, the department is able to send a cruiser to enforce traffic during the times that residents notice the violations occurring.

 For an example of a department's feedback form, please follow the link to the Pittsburgh Police Department. At the bottom of the page there is a link for visitors to submit comments as well as topics of concern. The form allows for users to leave their name and phone number however this is entirely optional, which is great for those who want to remain anonymous and would otherwise be hesitant to leave feedback in fear of retaliation from officers. The page does require for the visitor to provide an email address, however this is used so the department can request more information about a particular incident if they feel an investigation into the visitor's comments warrants more attention.

Larger cities, like Houston (TX), use forms embedded into their website for people to file "simple" police reports online. In a big city with a lot of call volume, past incidents, such as a theft from a vehicle overnight, would be classified as a low priority call for service, though the victim may feel otherwise. A low priority incident is usually one that has happened hours before it is actually discovered and there is no threat of harm to the victim. In addition, it is more than likely that the suspect(s) is no longer in the area. Due to the large call volume that the police department receives into its dispatch center, depending on time of day, victims of these low priority calls, can wait upwards of 30 minutes or longer for an officer to respond. This is particularly frustrating for some citizens, especially if they walk out of their house in the morning to go to work and find that their car stereo was stolen from their car during the overnight hours. The victim is already upset that the stereo was stolen and is now late for work because of the time it is going to take to speak with an officer. To help reduce some of the frustration, the Houston Police Department has provided this form, so that victims can continue on their way to work, and file the report of the stolen stereo from their work computer, provided they have Internet access.

 Simple forms such as these are yet another way that technology has changed the way law enforcement operates.

Review Of Feedback Forms - Week 7 Topic

 Taking time out of our lives to work on our websites can be a frustrating task at times. It can however be relaxing and enjoyable as well. Putting a lot of time and effort into our blogs and websites, it's only fitting that we are able to open ourselves up to constructive criticism.

 With the ability to embed feedback forms into our websites, users are able to suggest improvements and provide comments on aspects of your site that they like. This is extremely helpful for people like me who have never created a website or blog before. I know there are plenty of students who have done so before and I value their feedback on how I can make my simple webpage better and more attractive to visitors.

 Where the feedback form is so simple to use, it takes no time at all for visitors to your site to post a quick comment in order to suggest improvements. Making the form simple and easy to use eliminates the possibility of the visitor getting frustrated with the length of time it will take them to provide feedback, thus avoiding feedback altogether.

 With constructive criticism we can all make our websites a better and more attractive stop along the endless options on the Internet. While I have yet to have any feedback on my website at the time of this blog, I do intend on taking suggestions, especially if there is a common theme amongst the feedback I receive, and improve upon my first experience with making a webpage.

Web Applications Review - Week 6 Topic

This week in class we were tasked with finding applications on the web that interest us and our experience in using them. My only real experience has been with this application (www.blogger.com), so I reviewed how I have used it so far.

 As I stated in my discussion post, the blogger web application allows for simple posting of blog material. It is easy to use, and key features are displayed in an easy to find format. Much of the computer code work is taken out of your hands by simply clicking on the "add video" or "add picture" buttons on the top of the page. Those who have read my post in the discussion forum know that I referred to the application as so easy to use that instead of my weekly blog posts seeming like a homework assignment, I actually enjoy doing it and see it as more of a hobby than a chore.

 The best thing about our class discussion forum is that it allows for everyone to share there own experiences with a particular topic and this week has proven no different. In reading through posts I have since tried out the Pandora application for Internet Radio, as well as the "MapMyRun" web application, to map out future routes and keep track of my weekly mileage. This is extremely useful as I continue to prepare for the National Law Enforcement Memorial 5k to be held in Washington DC in May.

 As of the time of this blog post I have yet to have anyone respond to my post about blogger.com but if people are like me they too appreciate the simplicity of the application.

WebApps: Police Tool or Police Spy?

 In my previous blog post I discussed the application MobilePD, and how it helps link police and citizens 24 hours a day for emergency notifications and significant information. There's no doubt this can be helpful but how have web apps changed the way we operate as police officers?

 Two applications, especially for smartphones, have really changed the way officers do their daily duties. The application OpenWatch (www.openwatch.net) acts as a forum where users can upload media files from its' counterpart application CopRecorder (https://market.android.com/details?id=org.ale.coprecord&hl=en) for everyone to listen to. Essentially a user hits the button for their application on their smartphone while interacting with an officer, which secretly records the audio of the interaction. This can be done prior to the officer approaching them, which keeps the recording itself discrete. Users then immediately upload the recording anonymously to the OpenWatch application, which can then be accessed by anyone from the Internet to listen to the recordings online.

 I've always been a believer in the fact that if you do your job the right way you have nothing to worry about.  In some states however, police officers that use cruiser dashboard cameras have to advise the person they pull over that they're being audio and video recorded. Some states have ruled that the citizens can opt not to be, but others say you lose your right to privacy when being held on a traffic stop. Yet if the citizen records the officer, even if the recording is deemed illegal, the officer will still get in trouble with his/her department instead of ruling that the recording was unconstitutional.

 I understand that there are officers who need to work on their attitudes, but take the number of police officers in this country and group them together. Of course out of hundreds of thousands you're going to find employees who need attitude adjustments. Working in an office of 15 people you'll find one or two who need adjustments.

Web Apps: Your Local Police In Your Pocket

 The invention of smartphones have given us access to up to the minute events almost as soon as they occur. In addition to social media websites, certain applications can be downloaded to your smartphone or to your PC that allow you to follow day to day events while you're at work. Have you ever wondered what's going on in your town while you're sitting in your office? Wouldn't you like to know if there's a significant event (house fire, house break, armed robbery) going on in your neighborhood as you sit in your office miles from home? Sure you're going to get major news through your news feed that you subscribe to, but what about stuff that may be important to you, but might not be headline newsworthy?

 One mobile/web application called "mobilePD" (www.gomobilepd.com) allows for users to subscribe to their local police department, if the department adopts this program. The program gives the user up to date information to crimes in a given area by pinpointing on a town map, what calls are going on at a specific location. There is a section for news that allows for users to read up to the minute press releases authorized by the Chief of Police, videos with direct links to the department's YouTube channel, access to photos posted by the department, to include photos from community events and wanted posters, tips where users can submit anonymous tips to the department without having to get overly involved, and a section where the user can sign up for alerts from the local PD when an event is happening. The alerts can be extremely helpful if your power has gone out, or if there is a sudden need to boil your water due to contaminate levels and traffic delays for your evening commute home.

 Advancements like this is helpful to both the citizen and the police department. From the citizen standpoint it allows for 24 hour access to significant events from wherever they may be at any given time. From the police department's standpoint, things like when the power goes out and when it comes back on cut down on phone calls to the dispatcher, allowing for lines to be free for true police emergencies.

Internet Search Engines and Policing

 Keeping with this week's topic of Internet search engines and their effect on society, I thought I'd take a look at how searching the internet has made the job of a police officer a lot easier during daily duties and investigations.

 Countless times in my career, I have used a google search to get information about a suspect identified in a crime. One specific example without revealing too many details. came up about a year ago when we were looking for a suspect who kept breaking into cars in town and stealing items left inside. Once we learned the name of a possible suspect, I googled the suspect's name which led me to their Twitter page. Something that a lot of people don't know is that unless you set your profile so that people have to request to follow you, in order to see your 'tweets', all of your posts are able to be read by putting your username into a google search. As a result, sure enough we were able to find the suspect tweeting out that he had several GPS units for sale. Ultimately this led to a search warrant for his residence and we were able to recover several of the items stolen from the cars.

 Other times, I've used google searches to get phone numbers for police departments out of state, if my investigation led me to need information from an out-of-state. Often times we call other police departments to see what kind of local contact history they have had while that person was living in their city or town. Similarly typing a suspects name into a search engine may provide you with an address or phone number for him/her that was otherwise unknown.

 As you can see an internet search has made the ability to obtain information easier. The ease of getting the initial basic information has led to speeding up investigations. Not many police shows on tv are very accurate in their depiction of how an investigation is conducted, however the one thing they do have right is that when you're trying to solve a crime, time is critical. The longer you go without solving the case the greater likelihood of the case not getting solved. Therefore the quicker you can get the  basic information on a suspect, the quicker you can concentrate on actual details of the crime.

Internet Search Engines

This week our discussion in class was the effect of internet search engines on society. In the past you'd have to go to the library or look up a number in a local telephone directory book. Today however 'Google' has become a verb in our society.

 One of my classmates made a great point about how far we've come just in the sense of looking up telephone numbers. The student mentioned how we used to have to wait for the updated version of the Yellow Pages phone book to show up to the house to get numbers for contractors, pizza shops, and bakeries. Today, you can either go to the Yellow Pages online or you can type into a google search the type of business you are looking for and it will automatically return businesses with their listed phone numbers within a certain radius of your computer's IP address. As a result, the student, like many of us, take that Yellow Pages phone book that we get and put it right into the recycling bin for the next week's collection.

 The other common theme throughout the discussion was how internet searches have changed how we use the library. I remember being in school full-time and dreading spending my weekend doing research in a library. Now with just some filtering as to what websites are providing legitimate information, you can do most, if not all, of your research for a project by using search engines. Some university libraries even allow for students to access some of their content online.

 Finally, I made the point of how we can now use the internet for product reviews, specifically when it comes to restaurants and makes/models of cars. By just typing in the name of the restaurant you want to eat at into an internet search engine, you will get an instant return of hundreds of reviews on that particular restaurant. Although for every one bad review you can usually find an equally written positive review, if you start to see the same issues constantly come up, you can make your own determination. I personally just had an example of this while searching for a new car to buy. I'm looking for a 2nd car so I don't want to buy new simply for back and forth to work so I figured I'd take a look at used options. I came across several 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee's that I was interested in. Reviews of the car however revealed that many people were having serious electrical problems that the dealership couldn't trace to a common problem. Sure enough if you type into a google search "Jeep Grand Cherokee" it will autofill with some of the most commonly searched for terms, one of which is "Jeep Grand Cherokee Electrical Problems".  This research made me immediately eliminate the Grand Cherokee from my list of vehicles that I'd look to purchase.

 I think search engines are really appreciated by those of us who are in our early 30s as we all remember in grade school having to go to the library, flip through that indexed card catalog, try to find the book on the shelf considering someone put it back in the right spot, and then finally putting pen to paper to complete a project, Today even this blog can be looked up just by typing the name of it into a search engine and is available for anyone to see,.
 

Styling a website review

When I first took this course, I was a little worried about how I would do with the techincal aspect of it. By no means do I consider myself tehcnologically inept, but having taken a computer programming course in high school and not doing so well, I was worred this course would be similar and would be a constant struggle.

 My bad thoughts were quickly turned around however as the professor for my particular course does a fantastic job walking you through step by step on how to do things, explaining each step with his youtube video clips, along the way. If you're still stuck, he offers several areas of help to get the job done.

 During my time using the Internet, I have always viewed several websites and said to myself  "wow I can't imagine all the work it takes to keep this up". In the end, it's not so much doing the work that's the hard part, it's more keeping up and building upon what you've learned. I found the easiest way to keep up with your website is to do what most of my classmates did and personalize it to your liking so that you enjoy keeping up with it, making it more like a hobby than a school assignment.

Social Media and Law Enforcement

 As stated in an earlier post, I briefly mentioned social media websites and their impact on law enforcement. I wanted to take some time to talk about that in this week's post in a little more detail, specifically Facebook and Twitter.

 When Facebook first started, I remember not being able to join because at the time you needed a ".edu" email addresss, meaning you had to either be attending or be an alum of a college in order to join. At the time I had left Northeastern and was working full time so I could not logon to experience what it was like.

 Since that time, Facebook has opened its doors to everyone, allowing for us to keep track of our old friends, coworkers, family, and classmates. For most of us, checking our facebook accounts, has become as part of our morning routine as grabbing a cup of coffee. The facebook craze has gotten so popular that many businesses have blocked it from their servers, not allowing employees to log into their accounts during their work hours.

 Similar to Facebook, but slightly different in its design and operation, is the social media website Twitter. By subscribing to "follow" other users, your timeline gets fed with fair ly close to real time updates as they happen.

 So how can keeping up with your friends possibly help law enforcement you ask? For starters, just as is the case with YouTube channels, people who "friend" or "follow" individual police departments have access to information put out during an emergency as it happens. As an example, during the October snowstorm that caused days worth of power outages for many throughout the state, my local police department posted constant updates from National Grid via their Twitter page. Despite the wireless internet routers not working, many were able to use the internet via the high speed networks their cell phone companies provide, to access Twitter. In the example given, I was able to do just that as I followed the police department in the town where I live. My particular department continued to update their Twitter page every few hours as to the number of reported outages, as was reported to them via National Grid conference calls. Although the days without power were frustrating, to see the number of outages dwindle in real time, at least let me know that an end to the outages were near. Not only does this help the citizens but it also cuts down on the number of phone calls by citizens asking for updates to the police department's main number, leaving the lines open for emergency calls only.

 Many departments utilize their facebook and Twitter pages for thist type of general information that would normally result in a high call volume into the police station, sometimes overwhelming the dispatcher so much that overtime would need to be called in to assist in answering the phones. So not only does it help take some of the pressure off of the dispatcher allowing for them to concentrate on the emergency calls for service, but it also allows police chief's to stay within their operating budgets by not having to call out for overtime to handle call volume.

YouTube and Policing

 This week our assignment in the classroom was geared towards uploading videos and pictures to our newly created web pages. Staying within that frame of mind, I'd like to specifically concentrate this week's blog on how YouTube has assisted police departments around the country in apprehending criminals when a crime occurs.

 When you start your own account on YouTube, you are then able to create your "channel" which allows users to subscribe to you where they can view all video uploads that you specifically have posted on the YouTube website. As is the case with individuals, many police departments have now started their own channels that people can subscribe to. The content on department channels are everything from recruitment videos, to preparing potential candidates for a physical fitness test requirement, to surveillance video taken from a recent robbery.

 Although the technology is new, particularly in regards to surveillance camera footage of a crime trying to identify a suspect,  it is a great way to reach a large number of people at any point during the day. People are able to view the department's content at any point during the day, instead of hoping they catch the footage on the nightly news broadcasts.

 Below I have provided a few videos as an example from my old department the Arlington County Police Department (VA).

This first video is an example of a recruitment video. All officer's involved are actual police officers with the department and the scenarios have at one point or another actually occurred. The suspects in the video are actually police officers playing a role.

This video is an example of a preview of the physical agility entrance test required for applicants to successfully pass in order to move on in the hiring process. In my experience in any entrance physical agility exam, a large number of applicants are generally eliminated as a result of not being able to pass this test. Many applicants attribute this to not being prepared for what's required of them. With the information available on YouTube, applicants can now create their own practice test in order to be better prepared for what lies ahead. Although the statistical information on how effective it is would be hard to figure out without taking surveys and finding out what applicants prepared based on the video, one would assume that those who prepare have a higher passing rate.

 

This final video is an example of surveillance footage of a robbery suspect from a local pharmacy. The video is released and put out to the public to attempt to identify the suspect involved. Police hope that this leads to anonymous tips from people who recognize the suspect but do not want to get involved in the case.

 As you can see, YouTube has really assisted law enforcement in several different ways. Although officers must be more careful now, as private citizens are capable of taking videos of everything you do as an officer and uploading immediately through their phone, my take on it has always been if you're doing your job the way it's supposed to be done, cameras can only help make your case in court.

The Internet, Media, and Law Enforcement

 In keeping with this week's class discussion topic on the advancement of the media as a result of the Internet, I'd thought I'd take it a step further and discuss how this advancement has effected those of us working in law enforcement. I'm not sure there's a career where the media criticizes, good or bad, more than those of us involved in policing.

 The Internet has taken news reporting to an all time fast pace. It has gotten to the point that 'breaking news' on your television, has actually been known about for some time online. This fast pace has allowed for 'as it happens' updates to include videos and photos. The videos are often uploaded from a smartphone by a person who has witnessed the event happen first hand. The ability of smartphones and immediate youtube uploads are fantastic but it also allows for user editing which could be cause for alarm if used incorrectly.

 Shown below is a recent incident involving the University of California - Davis Police Department. Several people, both students and non-students, are participating in the much publicized
Occupy Wall Street' protests. In this clip, a user uploaded a one minute clip of university police spraying what appears to be non-violent protesters for no unjust reason with oc spray (commonly referred to as pepper spray). It appears by this one minute clip that the officer walks by the crowd and starts randomly spraying without warning. This clip was forwarded to the media and national attention was given to the incident.

 Now take a look at the next video. This video shows the entire twenty minute ordeal that occurred that day. In the full length video you can see and hear the officers clearly advise the group of protesters what law they are violating (even noting chapter and section) and how they are blocking a public way of passage. They are told SEVERAL times the consequences that will result if they refuse to vacate the public walkway. At first a group of protesters are taken into custody as a result of refusing the officers commands. What happens next is several people start to lead the group into demanding that the officers let their fellow protesters go. The group, that clearly outnumbers the officers, start to surround the officers shouting things like "you don't go until they go" creating a virtual kidnapping of the officers. Again the officers verbalize what will result if they do not disperse. It is not until several warnings are given, and the officers are put in a position of being surrounded, jeopardizing their own safety, that the students are sprayed.

 Watching this video from the original clip I also questioned the officers actions. However once the second full length clip surfaced, my opinion of the incident completely changed. My views on first amendment rights and what you think is considered 'excessive' with regards to use of force aside, this is a clear example of how the media can simply run with a story by just a small video clip believing that just that clip is enough proof of what happened. If anyone has noticed, the full length video never surfaced on the news as far as I saw.

The Internet and Media

 Do you remember the days when you were younger and you'd wake up to mom and/or dad sitting at the kitchen table having coffee swapping off different sections of the Sunday paper? That same Sunday morning in our house has now turned into seeing which parent got to the desktop and which one got to the laptop in order to read the daily news. To say that the Internet has revolutionized the media doesn't even begin to describe how reliant upon technology the world has become.

  Prior to the Internet you had to pay for a subscription to your local newspapers. Here in Boston most people subscribed to either the Boston Globe or the Boston Herald for their Sunday news and sales ads, very rarely subscribing to both. Now with the Internet, instead of choosing one, in a matter of minutes you can switch between articles printed by one or the other and all free of charge. This is not only convenient but you can now read your favorite writer's articles no matter what paper they work for. For instance, I like the Globe for straight news articles however I believe that the Herald's sports section is far superior. You can set up alerts through either paper to receive breaking news through your smartphone or email when news happens in your section of the state.

In addition to the news online, a lot of people used to subscribe to the Sunday edition of the newspaper specifically to view all local store's ads for weekly sales. Instead of having to subscribe to the paper to see the specials, most stores offer the specials on their websites and in most cases you can even view a scanned PDF copy of the exact insert that was put in the Sunday papers. A classmate referred to this specifically when talking about shopping the day after Thanksgiving, typically known as 'Black Friday'. It has been tradition in the past that people eat Thanksgiving dinner, take an early evening nap, and then wake up to participate in special midnight store openings in order to receive deep discounts on specific items. Before the Internet the only way to know what the specials would be would be to wait for the paper to come during Thanksgiving week. Now not only can you log onto a store's website days before, but most are now offering the same sales online as if you had actually gone to the store and wrestled through the hoards of people trying to get the same deals.

 The only downside to the media and the Internet that I really see is the fact that prior to online media, news outlets were only competing with each other for breaking news information. Now not only do our local stations in Boston compete with other ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates throughout the country, but also many smaller news outlets, to be the first to report on a story. Often times this does lead to media outlets posting a headline only to end up retracting their report as erroneous. I have however found that most of the major outlets do a fairly decent job of confirming their reports before posting. Although the details usually end up getting edited as the story develops, the headline itself is usually spot on.

You Can't Outrun a Motorola

 Following in line with a brief history of police technology available today, I'd like to take a minute to talk about what many call the police officer's lifeline, the portable radio. For years one of the most essential pieces of equipment to have on them at all times is a freshly charged portable radio battery. The idea is if you get into trouble and we (fellow officers) don't know where you are, we can't come to help you.

 Prior to the invention of the portable radio, police officers used call boxes to communicate with their headquarters for an assignment. Lights were placed all over the city at major intersections and if you were assigned to that area of the city and a light was on, it meant for you to go to a call box and call into the station

 In the late 1920s in Detroit the first radio unit was placed into a police vehicle. The problem with this radio was that it was a one way radio meaning the department could dispatch the call to the officer, but the officer could not answer the dispatcher without driving to a call box.

 In 1933 the first two way radio was used in a police car in Bayonne, New Jersey. Finally this allowed for dispatchers to dispatch a unit to a particular call for service and the responding officer could notify the dispatcher that they received the assignment. This paved the way for today's modern mobile radio.

 Today the technology of portable and mobile radios inside the police cars have come leaps and bounds from their 1920 introduction. Your typical police radio today is programmed on a digital frequency to allow for clarity and allows for inter-agency communication. This is critical to the apprehension of suspects if someone flees into a neighboring city or town. Prior to this technology radios were only able to be programed for the specific department that ordered them. Now with the turn of the channel dial on the radio an officer from Town A can immediately start talking with Town B on their channel keeping them abreast of whatever situation needed their attention.

 In addition to the inter-agency communication, many radios are setup with a private call feature, similar to that of the Nextel Direct Connect technology, where each radio is assigned a private call number. An officer must simply know the private call number of their coworkers and they can talk person to person without having the transmission broadcast over the entire frequency. This assists in eliminating unnecessary radio traffic on the main dispatch channel, and also aids in officer safety in high risk situations. For instance when serving an arrest warrant, instead of communicating the operation on one of the main dispatch frequencies which can be heard by anyone with a police scanner, the officers can use the private call function and talk direct to one another without anyone with a scanner being able to hear, particularly the suspect.

 To further the point in officer safety, radios are now equipped with an "emergency button", usually a red or orange button mounted at the top of the radio for an officer to depress when they are in a life threatening emergency and cannot transmit with their voice. An example would be if an officer calls the station to let them know they are on a traffic stop at a particular intersection and the officer gets into a struggle with the operator, the officer must simply depress the button to alert dispatch they are in an emergency. The dispatcher would then know the last known location of the officer and after several attempts to raise the officer, send multiple units to assist the officer in the fight.

 As you can see radios have not only made the job of a police officer easier in being able to receive and answer calls more efficiently, but the advancement in technology has also provided tools to keep the officer safe.


NOTE: Credit the following Irvine California Police 911 website link for assisting with the history of the mobile radio.

http://www.ci.irvine.ca.us/ipd/divisions/dispatch/911_dispatch.asp

Internet Communication - Do The Benefits Outweigh The Negatives?

 From time to time on this blog I will be making posts in relation to topics we have discussed in our class this semester. This week our professor started a discussion topic relating to the benefits of communicating through the Internet. Social media outlets have become the biggest form of communication and can have a major impact on the way we get our news. Seeing as I started my particular blog to focus on technology in law enforcement, I will visit the impact that social media has had in modern policing in a separate post. This article is going to focus mainly on Facebook because it's the most popular social site. Although Twitter allows for pictures and status messages, in my opinion it doesn't flow as well as Facebook does when it comes to timelines and instant messaging.

 I remember my parents telling me how much fun their high school reunions were. They used to speak about how it was great to see people they hadn't seen in years and how much people change physically and mentally. Those who said they'd never think of having kids were now married with multiple children, and those who you'd never think would be successful were now supervisors at large companies. I remember my dad telling me how much he enjoyed his tenth year reunion because he got to finally see all of his friends who went into the military that he lost contact with because they were overseas. A fellow classmate really made an impact on how I view the benefits of Internet communication. Karen Engvik writes in her discussion post titled "Week Two Post" about how Facebook has allowed her to keep up communication with her brother in Afghanistan on a weekly basis. Where she really drives her point home though is by sharing that with instant messenger programs and youtube videos she is able to easily communicate with her mother who is deaf. Never did I really think of the advantages that these websites would have on the handicapped community as I do now.

 Nowadays with the advancement of social media outlets, specifically Facebook, people can communicate through the Internet. At any time you can click on your friend's profile and in an instant see what's going on in their lives. Just by scrolling through the profile page you can see what they now look like, if they have kids, and see what they're doing for work since you got out of high school. The technology is definitely beneficial and it allows for people to catch up with what's going on in several different people's lives in a short period of time. The "status message" function that Facebook has set up allows us to see what's going on in people's lives at any particular moment of the day and depending how often that person updates their status, you can monitor how their entire day is going at home or work! Personally, a couple of friends that I went to high school with had husbands overseas and I was able to see how they were doing and I knew the time frame in which they were coming home just by keeping up with the status messages. While there's no question this immediate access to people's lives can be beneficial, it can be just as damaging.

 We have come to rely so heavily on social media sites that most of us check our accounts multiple times per day. I think personally I check my facebook account more often than my email itself. But what about those people who don't have a Facebook account? Recently I ran into a high school classmate of mine. When I told her that I didn't attend our ten year reunion she said she never knew about the reunion because the invite itself was done through Facebook which she doesn't use. Feeling left out and ignored she said she was clearly better off not attending if that's how people are going to communicate and just assume that everyone has a Facebook account. Similarly I told her that the reason I didn't attend was because anyone who I wanted to still keep in contact with I was "friends" with on Facebook and I already knew what was going on in their lives, I didn't need to spend $100+ per plate to talk to people that I already kept up with in the first place.

 Social media websites can also be dangerous when used in combination with your workplace. Many jobs will view someone's Facebook page prior to the candidate being hired now, as they can scroll through pictures to see if they participate in activities which would lead to character issues detrimental to the company. People have also been fired for posting negative things on Facebook or Twitter about their place of employment.

Finally the amount of people who have come to me and said they are getting a divorce as a result of their significant other "friending" and then secretly going out on dates with past school boyfriends/girlfriends has been astronomical. The ability to set a date up online through messaging and have absolutely no phone records leading back to the date itself has created quite a storm through relationships.

 Despite some of the setbacks I really do believe that if used correctly, social media websites can be a fantastic tool. As is the case with Karen it has helped her communicate with someone close to her and opened doors that she may not have thought were possible before the Internet. As long as people realize that you cannot put a price on the value of face to face conversation and participate in doing so every so often in combination with social media outlets, the benefits definitely outweigh the negatives when it comes to social networking.

The Police Cruiser: 2 feet on 4 wheels

 Throughout this blog I want to focus on modern advancements of technology in policing leaving some of the history behind. I don't feel that we need to go through the invention of the wheel in order to get to talking about the invention of the car, as it can be boring and it's not what people want to read. The whole point is I want to create a discussion forum that people enjoy looking at and I enjoy keeping up with. That being said, I do feel that if we're going to discuss police radios and their advancement, and the technology available to put inside of a police cruiser, we should discuss a little bit of the history seeing as the police cruiser really was the start of the modern technological advancements available to police officers.

  Prior to the New York City Police Department introducing the first radio mounted patrol cars to their police force in the 1920s, a police officer was typically seen around town walking a specific route or a "beat". This allowed officers to interact face to face with the public on a daily basis, stopping into businesses and speaking with store owners. Members of the community got to know the officers assigned to the beats where they worked or lived, by their first name. The interaction that this provided seemed to be a good thing but as is the case with anything it had its downsides as well.

 Having an officer on foot significantly increased the amount of time it took to get from one place to another in case of an emergency. This also decreased the number of officers available to respond to a certain call. If an officer was assigned to a section of the city miles away he/she would be unable to respond to the emergency on the other end of the city on foot. Putting officers in cars allowed for multiple officers to get to a specific location at a moments notice. It seemed to be the perfect advancement for policing in the United States.

 As stated before, people's opinions vary on different things and with advancement sometimes comes downsides. Similar to online college courses, many view the police car as the reason there is such a gap between community and police relations today. Where online college courses are convenient ways to complete your education, it does eliminate the typical student/teacher interaction to a certain degree. Similarly critics have said that putting officers in cars and having them drive past the person walking to the bus stop in the morning has eliminated the normal human interaction of a friendly "good morning" as the officer and the citizen pass each other on the sidewalk. Critics have also said that the cruiser becomes a virtual "lock box" driving down the street with the windows up as officers have the windows rolled up with the air conditioner on in the summer and the heat on in the winter, further separating themselves from the public.

 During the community policing phase brought on in the 1990s to help bridge the communication gap between the police and the public, many departments started to require their officers to sign off on "park and walks" during their shifts. A "park and walk" was just that, the officer was required to advise the dispatcher that they were parking their cruiser in a certain location (usually by a set of stores) and walking around the area talking to people. This practice is still required by many departments today.

 Since the invention of the police cruiser we have seen the three biggest US automakers (Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Ford) test their design skills with heavy duty versions of their civilian family sedans. Chevy has used the Impala, Dodge has reintroduced the Charger, and the most popular police cruiser amongst the three automakers, Ford has been using the Crown Victoria. All automakers have supplied their sedans with major differences from those available to their civilian family sedan counterparts. The differences include bigger/faster engines, heavy duty suspension, heavy duty braking mechanisms, and heavy duty wiring to handle all of the electronics that go into making up a police car. The preference for cars seems to lie with the Chief and his/her personal preference to a particular automaker and the budget given to purchase the car, however all are proven effective.



Chevrolet Impala Police Package



Ford Crown Victoria Police Package



Dodge Charger Police Package



 At the onset police cars used to have a small bubble style light mounted to the top of the roof and a two way radio. The typical police car today is equipped with a radar unit, a digital mobile radio allowing agency to agency contact, a mobile data terminal (mdt)/laptop, and electronic warning lights. All of which will be examined further throughout the blog.

I cannot comment on how effective walking beats were as they took place before my time in this job. I can only say that the invention of the police car has become a tool that every officer relies on to get their job done the most efficient way possible. Could the car become a "lock box" separating the police from the general public? One cannot discount that idea, but an effective police officer is someone who can obtain information from the public about specific crimes or specific intelligence. The only way to obtain that information is to build trust with members of the community. The only way to build that trust is to talk to people. If the officer wants to be effective, the police cruiser is a great tool that will continue to advance as an efficient mobile office as time goes on.

Hello Welcome

 

Hello Everyone,

  My name is Joe Lyons I'm a police officer working towards finishing my degree in CJ. I was enrolled in Northeastern University's CJ program straight out of HS and decided to withdraw to take a full time police position with the Arlington County Police Dept. in VA. Working in a major metropolitan city provided me with a totally different outlook on the world. I have since moved back to my home state of MA and continue to serve as a police officer in a much smaller town. I look forward to reading everyone's post and see what other occupations are taking this course.

 As far as my blog goes, I am going to be working on examining the technological advancements in the criminal justice system, specifically those tools available to police officers who must answer multiple calls for service on a daily basis, the "street cops" if you will. While there is no question that these advancements have made the job easier for officers to conduct their day to day activities, with technological advancement comes criticism.

 The blog will take a look at technological advancements in simple items like the on-board mobile data terminal (MDT) computers, to advancement in weaponry to include the controversial topic of tasers, a form of an electronic "stun gun"to put it in layman's terms.

 In reading my blog I hope that you will respond to the topic and give me your thoughts as I can be biased, having seen first hand how these advancements make the job easier. I am always curious to see the opinions of others.