The future role of technology in policing
Detlef Nogala · Social Science Open Access Repository (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) · 1995
The future role of technology in policing 1 Detl,ef NogalaIf one is going to discuss the future of the police, one has to take into account the structure of the society they exist in and serve.It is a kind of sociological truism today that our societies (at least the western ones) are moving from their industrial machine-age to some kind of information age.It remains to be seen whether this description is sufficient to embrace the entire current social processes, but what is quite certain is, that our whole civilization, its organizations and our social life are permeated by technology.Everything indicates that this process will continue and even accelerate.Social control in general and the police as an institution are no exception from this transformation.But far from stating a technological determinism and rejecting a pure 'technical' understanding of technology, I rather would like to approach technology as a social factor.In the following I want to discuss some aspects of the role technology will or could have in the future of policing.I will start by considering the relationship between police and technology from a social science point of view.To illustrate the significance technology has for present police performance and options, I will give a short synopsis of the current police relevant technologies and some of their applications.Instead of arguing which technology is to be the most effective or promising one for police ends, I will consider the factors and processes influencing the real diffusion of technology in future policing.I. Questioning technology in and for police work: Trivial, worth considering, cruci.al?Police are (apart from the military) probably the state agency the functions and structure of which are most affected by technology.The idea of police