Police technology in cities: changes and challenges

Abstract

Advanced technologies originally developed for the military are now commonly used to enhance urban public safety. Photonics, thermal imaging, facial and behavioral recognition systems, remote monitoring by satellite, and biometric systems like DNA testing and retinal scans have become new weapons in police agencies. These technologies are being diffused among cities by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), NASA, the US military, national research laboratories, the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization of the National Institute of Justice, and others. As a result, public police agencies are changing their methods of handling urban space and the ways such spaces are defined and controlled by police. Police technologies are evolving into, among other things, machine systems that code and decode information embedded in urban spaces, with the ability to track movements of targeted individuals and groups and identify the unseen remnants left by targets of these surveillance machines. As these systems become more automated and autonomous, critical thought needs to be directed to their impact on people and cities.