By Kyle Scholes    

With the numerous crimes capable of being committed, ranging from arson to speeding, it would not be efficient to send officers equipped with only the most basic of tools; a baton, hand-gun, mace, etc. That is why since at least the nineteen hundreds scientists and manufacturers alike have been coming up with new inventions.

One area of interest when inventing new technology is transportation. The first addition to this group was the bicycle. Fast forward in time, as police now possess cars. Transportation is not the only thing that matters either.

In communications, one of the very first inventions was the police box, where police officers could turn a key and their location would be uploaded to their headquarters. Since then bases of operation have been setup. Officers sitting in their cars can transmit and receive voice through two-way radios attached in their cars.

Officers on foot can use their walkie-talkies to send and receive calls from their headquarters, as well as anyone else they might need to communicate with.

In evidence collection, and the analyzing of it, we have come a long way from the point where people were guilty of the crime they had been accused of if they failed to pass a two-part test called Ordeal.

Stage 1 consisted of swearing an oath of innocence while being backed up by 12-15 people who would support your claim of innocence. Stage 2 consisted of grabbing a hot iron rod, or putting your hand in boiling water, and if you got burnt you were found guilty. If you didn’t like either of them, you could simply challenge your accuser to a duel and if you won you were found innocent.

Luckily, today we have the ability to test DNA found in connection with the crime, which can help identify the suspects of a crime. We do so by comparing DNA found on the victim, or at the scene of the crime to DNA in our DNA Databases. If your DNA matches that to a piece of evidence there is a 40 million to one chance that both sets of DNA are yours. CODIS is a system containing millions of different DNA.

Even with high-speed cars, DNA databases, and communication networks, there is still more to be done as crime is constantly evolving. Take for example two new crimes Smishing and Vishing. Where criminals will e-mail spam your email accounts saying there is something wrong with your bank account and sending you a link that claims you can “fix” it. If you do happen to go to the link and submit your personal info you have just given criminals access to your bank account where they can do what they’d like with your money.

If you access their website with your cell phone they will have access to any phone numbers, or other information on your contact list. As crime truly is constantly evolving it makes sense that if officers can do their jobs more efficiently, than society as a whole will be better protected.

One way of making it easier for the police is making specific tasks easier. Like catching a person who has just sped, or run a red light, or catching a person who has committed a felony, or a person who has stolen a vehicle.

All of these things can be made easier for the police by attaching cameras capable of identifying stolen vehicles, cars belonging to felons, vehicles that have just sped, or run a red light to a police car. This camera will then transmit data back to the officer and their station.

Knowing this, can you spot any police vehicles with cameras attached to them?