NCJ Number
114001
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) discusses law enforcement in the year 2000 and how it will face many new challenges.
Abstract
Urban areas will contain larger numbers of underclass citizens and in those areas, crime and drug activity will be high. Citizens in suburban areas will turn to private security forces in addition to public police for protection. Fear of crime will increase. Many police will have to forge relationships with communities of non-English speaking citizens. Police will spend less time fighting crime and more time maintaining order, yet crime prevention will be an important part of police work. All these changes will have a great impact on how police do their jobs. Public and private police forces will be forced to develop ways to collaborate in several particular areas of law enforcement: burglar alarm service calls, employee theft and shoplifting, white collar crime, terrorism, and information sharing. Police operations will focus on problem-oriented policing, differential police response, and collaborating with citizens in community policing. Revolvers will be replaced by non-lethal weapons. Finally, science and engineering will be emphasized in law enforcement, artificial intelligence will be used to solve crimes, and portable computers and videotapes will reduce paperwork.