How personal defence gadgets, tactical weapons and speedy smart vehicles assist those enforcing the law
In police departments all over the world, officers need to be prepared for any emergency. Whether it involves suiting up in armour to tackle rioting mobs, safely alerting road users of diversions or launching into a high-speed car chase, the latest developments in all necessary equipment need to be available. In almost every stage of attending to a case, a police officer will rely on specially designed technology to make their evidence, arrests and convictions as fair as possible.
Police officers can’t be everywhere at once. Before cameras were invented and made readily available, arrests could only be made by the luck of an observation or through word of mouth alone. Today, permanent surveillance cameras on city streets and roads make it more difficult for criminals to get away with their nefarious acts. And now the number of police drones being deployed to record activity in criminal hotspots is on the rise too.
Even if a criminal isn’t spotted at the scene of a crime or has made a swift getaway, biometric databases make multiple offenders easier to track down. Fingerprints and DNA samples are analysed by forensic teams, while facial recognition cameras can alert police departments when a wanted individual passes by any security camera.
Modern policing technology is making communities around the world safer in many ways, but what does the future of policing look like? Find out about some of the technological devices officers have on-hand and explore the early developments of artificial intelligence and robotics that could soon serve a more significant role in police forces.
CARRYING FIREARMS
In the US, Australia, many European countries and most African countries, police officers carry firearms. Meanwhile, in the UK, most officers do not. Firearms are instead restricted to specifically trained police officers with the title of authorised firearms officer (AFO). AFOs are called to duties that are classed as high-risk – some involve the military, or large-scale events to reassure the public of their safety if an emergency were to occur. Only about five per cent of all police officers in England and Wales are authorised to use guns.
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PREDICTING HOTSPOTS
Criminals can be dangerous and are somewhat unpredictable – or are they? With advancements in computer technology in the last ten years, police officers no longer have to wait around for criminal activity to take place. Instead they can use artificial intelligence to analyse criminal records and detect patterns in when, where and how crimes are com
