ICT and Law Enforcement

What is ICT and Law Enforcement?

When a serious crime happens, masses of information are sent to an incident room that is set up by the police.

• However, the police used to have to go through and sort out all this information, which made it easy to miss some important information; it also took a long time. But a computer program called ‘HOMLES2 Incident Room’ was created that helped investigations and it saved time for police; also it was much easier to find a vast amount of information. Also. it reduces the amount of paperwork and keeps track on pieces of evidence.

 

• The ‘HOLMES2 ’ software has a function called ‘Casualty Bureau’ this helps to coordinate the aftermath of incident which are major, such as terrorist attacks, train crashes and floods. This system allows descriptions provided of missing people to be inputted into the software directly and it will match the details for example; from accident scenes and hospitals. If the match is confirmed, the police will contact family members with news.

 

• Biometrics and fingerprints enable investigators to track down criminals. Biometrics is a technology which identifies people using physical characteristics such as finger prints because different people have different pattern ridges; this technology works by unique patterns of individuals.

• Another technique which is used for identifying both victims and criminals is DNA analysis. Every human being has unique DNA, but the only exception is identical twins that will have identical DNA. If any samples of DNA are found at a crime scene, it can be broken down to find out the criminals or suspects. DNA can be found in samples of hair and body fluid etc.

 

• Another technique used is Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is cameras which tell police whether a vehicle has been stolen, involved in a crime or untaxed. Digital cameras can scan and record every passing cars vehicle registration. The registration numbers are then checked with the numbers on the database which include Police National Computer, the DVLA and police intelligence records.

 

• Other uses of ICT in law enforcement are the digital radio with encrypted transmission allows officers to communicate confidentially and securely. A Criminal Justice extranet is a network that allows the police and others communicate securely as well as documents.