Future of Policing Paper

Final Paper: Future of Policing Paper

Randy Morgan

Axia College

Jeffrey Scott

April 22nd, 2012

In this paper I am going to talk about the trends affecting police today. I will also talk about some of the foreseeable critical issues that may affect policing in the future. I will look into what changes may need to be made to effectively address these critical issues. At the end of this paper I will give what I think are the main trends and changes that the police have to make in order to do their jobs better.

In the near future law enforcement has a lot of different ways it could go. But the most significant trend will continue to be the way of the computer. Used in almost every facet of policing this technology will help solve crimes, find missing people and help to prevent crimes in the future. As most police agencies make a lot of changes in their communicating skills and the sharing of information the computer will be at the forefront of all this. Another trend that is going now in law enforcement is the use of the camera. People all across the nation are seeing these cameras pop up all over the place. The way it is going and the people getting used to the idea may make it even more useful. In 2012 and beyond there are some things to look for like more employment in law enforcement, more cameras in public view, more and more advances in DNA testing and last but not least the improvement in the technology in the use of cameras and the computer to find the people doing the crimes and stopping them way before they happen. "How it happened, God, I don't know how it happened, but it did, People, you have to watch your kids. You got to learn how to take care... a little better then we think we know how. Watch your kid's folks. My baby was in front of me on her computer, I mean in front of me. Not in her room". {Father of a teen kidnapped by someone she met over the internet".

In the foreseeable future there are some issues that the police will have to deal with that will affect them. The number one thing I think they will be affected by is the rise of the terrorist attacks against this country. It won't be just from the people over seas but the people that are growing up here. Another thing the police will be challenged over is the computer crimes going on right now. In the future it will get worse with the rise of identity theft and money crimes going on over the inter-net. "Change is the law of life" {John F. Kennedy}. The police departments that keep up with all the changes in technology and all the things going on in their part of town will be the most successful police departments around. Some other things they will have to fight with are the drug problems going on in this country. The so called drug war started in the early 1970s and is going on big time today. In the 1980, the United Sates had about 200,000 people in prison with drugs as the main culprit, but in 2006 the United States had over 2,000,000 jailed because of the same thing. Another thing the police officer will have to deal with is the