NCJ Number
213116
Date Published
2005
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines changes in law enforcement practices as new surveillance technologies and partnerships are linked across nations in order to counter international terrorism and transnational organized crime.
Abstract
The chapter first identifies four themes in the literature on surveillance societies. One theme is the focus on biological features as a means of identifying people and their associated risk to public safety (biometrics). Surveillance will thus increasingly depend on obtaining such biometric information as DNA, fingerprints, and other distinctive biological markers for identification as technology allows. A second theme is the expanding collection of biological markers, such as urinalysis and fingerprints, of people by both public and private institutions at the local level. The third theme is the focus of surveillance and linked biometric-marker collection on certain groups associated with criminal and antisocial behavior, such as the poor, racial/ethnic minorities, immigrants, and persons from certain nations and regions of the world. The fourth theme is the expansion of biometric databases and the sharing of such databases across agencies and countries for multiple purposes, not just law enforcement. After discussing these themes of the surveillance literature, this chapter discusses changes in the techniques and delivery of policing services due to changes in threat assessments by surveillance societies. Threat assessments change under the influence of political, economic, and social pressures that are increasingly global. These pressures are examined, followed by an analysis of the trend toward centralized surveillance in the European Union. Surveillance partnerships in North America are also addressed. The chapter suggests the future possibility of a globalized DNA data bank, one centralized police force for the European Union, and an integrated police system in North America. 6 notes and 17 references