As incidents of crimes are increasing every day, law enforcement agencies and lawyers are using online networks to curtail crimes. For many years now, law enforcement agencies have been using the internet to solve crimes both within and without their boundaries. The purpose of my research is to highlight some of the uses of the internet in solving crime. Much crime occurs offline yet the law enforcing bodies can adequately use the internet to solve such crimes.
Information that appears on popular websites can help police in solving some complex crime issues faster than it was ever thought. With a click of a button, law enforcers can access millions of records with information relating to particular crimes and the crime scene, even without visiting the said area. According to many investigators, the use of the internet has made their job much easier because they can track the activities of would-be suspects without the need for any physical confrontation.
The Internet can be used to carry out crime mapping, this is a strategy used by law enforcement agencies to map and analyze incidents of crimes. It helps analysts of crime to locate crime hot spots and other crime patterns and trends. The Internet has also helped in tracking criminals across the country and around the world. By posting a photo or short clip of a movie of a crime scene on the internet, most internet users are able to get information about certain crimes and then report any suspect they come across, without putting their lives in danger. Further internet has helped to solve crime through fingerprint comparison; by accessing fingerprints databases on the internet police are able to compare known fingerprints from a suspect’s palm and questionable fingerprints to determine whether the two impressions are the same.
In mapping crime, law enforcers use geographical information system (GIS) to locate crime hot spots and other crime-related trends. GIS is a crime mapping application system that captures, stores, and displays information links of a location hence giving vital information on that particular location. Crime maps show where crimes have happened at any location and are then posted on the internet from where police can locate areas prone to crime by just a matter of clicking a button.
Crime record details are recorded on crime mapping websites from where different law enforcement agencies can understand the nature and prevalence of the crime. The discovery of computers has helped in crime mapping by making the accessibility of information easier. Using the GSI crime analysts can easily locate the scene of the crime (visualize crime). This helps police to identify where the crime has taken place and try to understand the pattern if any. By identifying crime hot spots (areas with high crimes occurrence) police can understand better the cause of the crime hence helping the police to devise strategies to help solve the problem.
Again by analyzing the geography of an area, law enforcers are in a position to allocate and send police to emergencies in the fastest and safest way possible. Crime mapping and analysis are used by crime analysts to help police to make decisions, formulate strategies as well as forecast crime trends. Increased use of GIS in crime mapping has made data on crime easily available, where most police agencies are now publishing data on crimes through the internet which has allowed police officers in different areas of the country to get up to date warrants and other records from other law enforcing officials across the nation.
For example; “In 2005, North Carolina law enforcers officials, succeeded in solving crime rates through adopting an integrated justice solution. JusticeXchange, a computerized system, offers police up-to-date access to records, warrants and any other information from other law enforcers across the country.” (Appraiss)
The Internet has provided people with a platform to share and transfer information and data this is because a growing number of people are now using the internet to transact business; legal or illegal By using the same internet, police are in the position to track suspects involved in illegal businesses thereby apprehending them for eventual prosecution. The use of the internet to track criminals is replacing the old methods of pinning photos of wanted criminals on notice boards or newspapers. Police have special websites where they can trace criminal hideouts including their activities; for example, lately, law enforcers have resorted to using websites such as Myspace and YouTube to catch criminals.
The law enforcers have got their own sides in these popular websites where they broadcast short video clips of crimes committed in a particular region, thereby increasing the possibilities of arresting the offenders. Again by posting footage of security cameras on the internet has helped in nabbing suspected cash-safe crackers. Such websites help crime investigators track gangs of criminals without calling to inquire on a particular crime.
For many decades law enforcement officials have used fingerprints identification around the globe to identify victims of crime as well as the suspected offenders. Traditionally fingerprints have been made through fingerprinting techniques. “The patterns formed by fingerprints are unique to each person and do not change over along time: they are never the same even for identical twins.” (Barnard) Since computers have replaced the manual filing of fingerprints records, law enforcement officials have developed fingerprints identification software and databases to hold fingerprints records of millions of criminal suspects and billions of civil (non-criminals) fingerprints records.
In the forensic science, fingerprints obtained from the crime scenes or on materials used as evidence from a crime, are used to identify suspects and victims. Having such unique qualities it is easier to use fingerprints to solve crimes. The system of fingerprint identification has been very important for crime analysts since the beginning of the 19th century. Now with fingerprints from crime scenes, crime analysts compare those prints with known prints to find out whether they have any similarities.
The interconnectivity nature of modern society has led to linking of fingerprints databases via internet for easy referencing. With the readily availability of internet, police are able to retrieve many data bases on civil fingerprints so as to make comparisons. A crime analyst in Chicago investigating a certain crime will not have to travel to get fingerprints records from the Intelligence center which would be cumbersome and time wasting; however by just click of a button he/she can get access to millions of fingerprints from the website of the intelligence center.
There is no doubt that the use of internet in crime solving has helped a lot in reducing crime rates. The interconnectivity nature of modern society has in deed eased information and data sharing around the globe. Through the use of most populous websites both international and local law enforcement agencies have succeeded in tracking and arresting criminals and then bringing them to justice.
In conclusion it is quite evident that the advent of the internet has heralded a new dimension in a faster and convenient way of solving crime. So much energy and money is saved by using the internet; unfortunately cases of cyber crime are evolving and increasing by the day.
Works Cited
Appraiss, 2008, North Carolina Law Enforcement Finds Success in Tracking Crime Suspects. Web.
Barnard Ash. Fingerprints – How Fingerprints Solve Crime. 2009. Web.
Heffernan Sloane. 2006, Law Enforcement Uses Internet to Solve Offline Crimes. Web.