Technology and crimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Technology and crimes - Essay Example This leads to more effective credit card and identity theft scams (Criminal Intelligence Service Canada [CISC], 2010). - Credit card skimmer devices can be placed within a point-of-sale credit card machine, and collect names and credit card numbers. These devices operate on battery power and do not require the criminal to be nearby for them to do their work; they can be picked up surreptitiously later (CISC, 2010). - GPS tracking on cell phones and other web-enabled devices, as well as cell phone call tracking, means that the police can find out where criminals are making calls from and where they are traveling (Howell, 2010). - Database analysis turns information into a map that tells cops where a specific criminal is likely to live and where they are likely to strike next; this map also shows where crime hotspots are (Logan, 2004). - Wireless networking of different departments helps with arson tracking (Logan, 2004). Arson is often not well-reported, since it is the domain of the fire department and not the police department. Networking their databases together means that if the fire department suggests a fire is suspicious, the police immediately know about it. - Dashboard cameras on police cars record how a police officer behaves during a criminal arrest or investigation of a crime scene. This way, the actions of the police officer are no longer hearsay, but instead are a matter of record. (Howell, 2010) - The installation of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System has meant that criminals picked up for minor crimes dont get away with bigger ones. It is a national database of wanted criminals that tells officers almost immediately if the person they picked up for one crime is wanted for something more serious in another jurisdiction (Howell, 2010). Criminal Intelligence Service Canada [CISC]. (2010, May 13). Technology and Crime. Criminal Intelligence Service