By Thomas E. Christoff, Shelby Hickman, Zoë Thorkildsen, Monique Jenkins, Jennifer Lafferty, Melissa Gutierrez and Heleana Melendez

Police departments have evolved since the advent of modern policing in the early 19th century, with their roles and purposes constantly changing to meet the needs of the communities they serve. In that time, technology (defined here as tools or systems that enhance law enforcement’s ability to perform its duties) has also evolved, particularly since the 1990s, and police departments are increasingly incorporating modern technology into their daily functions. One of the earliest instances of technology use by police departments was the adoption of the police radio, which allowed officers to have constant communication with one another while patrolling different beats. Since the adoption of the police radio, technology has advanced in ways that benefit not only officers but also the public. Technology provides police departments with the ability to improve accountability and transparency, improve the quality of investigations, effectively allocate resources, and improve levels of trust with their communities. However, given the rapid pace of technological advancement in policing, a review of the various tools presently used in police departments is needed to better understand what is effective in achieving common goals. Using a systematic review framework, the CNA team searched relevant literature examining police, technology and innovation, public safety, crime reduction, and community relationships and identified 1,500 articles for initial review. These articles included academic research, government publications, unpublished studies, and other grey literature. The team completed a more in-depth review of the identified articles, using nine criteria to determine eligibility for this systematic review. The in-depth review yielded 98 articles eligible for the final review. These 98 studies examined police departments’ use of various technologies such as body-worn cameras (BWC), information technology (IT) (e.g., CompStat), closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, spatial analysis software, uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS, often called drones), license plate readers (LPR), social media and other public websites, mobile phones or computers, and gunshot detection. Final review included literature coding, which identified the following information from the articles: • Department or agency discussed • Agency type • Research question • Data source • Sample or respondents • Technology (category and specific) • Study type • Evaluation type • Research approach • Research methods • Study included cost-benefit analysis (CBA) • Outcomes (category and specific) The purpose of the present study is to provide a guide for employing any new technology, discuss insights on technologies currently being used in law enforcement agencies in the United States, and summarize findings and outcomes from the articles reviewed. It also provides a broader discussion on lessons learned for agencies implementing a new technology, including how to determine a need for technology, positive practices when implementing the technology, and anticipated benefits for modern technologies. In addition, it discusses how law enforcement can use technology as a tool to improve crime prevention, investigations and case clearances, accountability and transparency, and community relations. Technology has the potential to aid crime analysts in identifying crime trends, detectives in making arrests, and agencies in maintaining officer standards and building a stronger level of trust between communities and the officers who serve them. Both researchers and police departments therefore have the responsibility to take initiative in reviewing tools and practices to ensure department resources are effectively used.

Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. 2024.68p.

By Shute, R., & Mecray, M.

Service weapon activity, including instances where an officer’s firearm is drawn, pointed, or discharged, plays an important role in understanding events transpiring during a police–public encounter. Detection, documentation, and communication of these events in a way that is accurate, timely, and dependable is vital for enhancing transparency and accountability of law enforcement service weapon use. About this Report - The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) requested the Criminal Justice Technology Testing and Evaluation Center (CJTTEC) to investigate the landscape of commercially available and emerging technologies that could meet this need. CJTTEC conducted a review of technologies capable of detecting when a service weapon has been unholstered, pointed, or discharged; documenting when a law enforcement officer discharges their service weapon (or initiating documentation such as body-worn camera (BWC) recordings in such incidents); and communicating the information to dispatchers. CJTTEC’s methodology to understand this technology landscape included secondary research (e.g., reviewing patents, trade literature, press releases, news articles, and publications) and primary research with technology experts, product representatives, and researchers. This brief provides a high-level summary of technology systems capable of documenting, detecting, and communicating service weapon activity, focusing specifically on technology integrated into or onto the weapon, in a holster, in a BWC, in a wearable device, or in environmental sensing tools. Conclusion Although no single commercially available tool is capable of detecting, documenting, and communicating service weapon activity, law enforcement agencies may be able to rely on a suite of products to help them address these needs.

Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International 2024. . 15p.

By Madison, Wisconsin Police Department

  In August 2023, Madison City Council passed a resolution authorizing the Implementation of the Body-Worn Camera Experiment Program. The resolution included multiple attachments that provide a history of the body worn cameras (BWC), feasibility reports, example policy, public comments, Alder amendments, legal review, and Chief Barnes’ memo requesting approval to conduct the experiment. The resolution represents a culmination of several years of effort by city residents, staff and alders. The experiment program consisted of technology, research and cost estimates. The technology portion began April 1, 2024, and was completed July 14. The BWC units were worn by officers in the North District. The first two weeks consisted of setting up and assigning units to officers, testing, and training. The use of body worn cameras began in the field on April 15. The BWC units were loaned by MPD’s existing dash camera vendor for the duration of experiment. The research was conducted by an outside researcher; Dr. Broderick Turner at Virginia Tech. Police Director Eleazer Hunt and members of the BWC Committee met with Dr. Turner multiple times to identify needed data and survey questions. This report includes Dr. Turner’s findings (Appendix A) and a budget estimate for implementation (Appendix B). Estimates are based on full deployment of BWC across MPD, the acquisition of hardware, operations/storage needs, peripherals, personnel, and support several years of operation. During the experiment, an interim Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) guided the use of BWC (Appendix C). This SOP is informed by the Police Body-Worn Camera Feasibility Review Committee, MPD’s current SOP for dash cameras and audio microphones , and a review of model policies developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the U.S. Department of Justice. Findings from the experiment: 1- Officers did not change behavior while wearing a BWC 2- Charges were not added when officers reviewed video 3- Technical issues related to battery life and uploading video were evident in the first half of the experiment and resolved 4- Specific situational use of BWC required clarification of the SOP 5- The limitations of the experiment included a short duration, a small number of officers participated, there was limited time for analysis (interviews), and no post-experiment analysis 6- BWC may help with trust building, legitimacy, and transparency  7- Public Records requests impacted staff time to research, redact, and provide videos to requestors  

Madison, WI: City Police Department, 2024. 47p.

By Erin Hammers Forstag, Rapporteur; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Predictive policing strategies are approaches that use data to attempt to predict either individuals who are likely to commit crime or places where crime is likely to be committed, to enable crime prevention. To explore law enforcement's use of person-based and place-based predictive policing strategies, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a two-day public workshop on June 24 and 25, 2024.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2024. 14 pages