van Brakel Rosamunde, De Hert Paul (2011) Policing, surveillance and law in a pre-crime society: Understanding the consequences of technology based strategies. Journal of Police Studies, issue 20, vol.20, n. 3, pp.163 - 192, published by Maklu.
The last decades have seen several trends emerging in policing, the policing landscape has become fragmented,... more
The last decades have seen several trends emerging in policing, the policing landscape has become fragmented, (surveillance) technology is starting to play an increasingly important role in policing practices and recently new police models are more and more geared to predicting what will happen in the future. A first goal of this article is to explore new developments in policing and more specifically the focus will be on the huge expansion of the use of surveillance technologies by police, and the growing belief amongst both policy makers and police that it is possible, to a certain extent, by using surveillance technology to predict crime before it happens. A second goal is to explore a number of important unintended consequences that arise as a result of what we will call ‘preemptive policing’.
For this exploration the article draws from several disciplines; it reviews literature on policing, but will also venture into surveillance studies and science and technology studies. The goal of this contribution is not to present empirical data to test the literature but to discuss certain unintended consequences that are raised by preemptive policing and to critically analyse how European law deals with these consequences through a discussion of several judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. For our exploration Garland’s much cited theory of the ‘culture of control’ is used as a theoretical backdrop to contextualize the trends in policing that have led to the emergence of pre-emptive policing. The article shows the fundamental importance of taking into account social and legal issues arising when deciding upon the deployment of new surveillance technologies by police and that proportionality, transparency, non-discrimination and due process need to take centre stage in the development of new police models
Download (.pdf) Laser Legal Issues: Prosecuting Perpetrators
Co-authored with Madelyn I. Sawyer in 'FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,' Volume 77, Issue 4, April 2008. This article discusses legal issues regarding the prosecution of negligent or criminal lasing.
Deterring and prosecuting criminal laser strikes against aircraft requires a unified effort among local, State, and... more Deterring and prosecuting criminal laser strikes against aircraft requires a unified effort among local, State, and Federal law enforcement; cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration; and awareness and collaboration with the aviation community. Laser incidents are a current and emerging concern to the aviation and law enforcement communities. When directed against aircraft cockpits, lasers, under certain conditions, can distract or impair the pilot and flight crew, posing a significant safety hazard. After informally tracking laser incidents for a decade, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established a mechanism to record laser incidents through its operations center in Washington, DC. The FAA then contacts the FBI and local law enforcement agencies. Despite these regulatory efforts, a specific Federal laser strike statute still is pending. This legislation would amend the Federal criminal code to impose a fine or prison term of up to 5 years for any person who knowingly aims the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft or its flight path. If enacted, this would create Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 39A, Aiming a laser Pointer at an Aircraft. Currently, malicious use of lasers to interfere with aircraft can be prosecuted under the provision of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 32, Interfering with Flight Crews, or under the Patriot Act (P.L. 107-56) section pertaining to acts of violence directed against mass transportation systems. Several States, most notably California, have specific statutes available to address laser strikes as well.
Capturing crime, criminals and the public's imagination: Assembling Crime Stoppers and CCTV surveillance
Lippert, R. and B. Wilkinson.
2010.
Crime, Media, Culture 6(2): 131-152.
This article explores Crime Stoppers’ use of CCTV images as a node of a surveillant assemblage via analysis of a... more This article explores Crime Stoppers’ use of CCTV images as a node of a surveillant assemblage via analysis of a sample of Crime Stoppers advertisements deploying CCTV images supplemented by interviews and other qualitative procedures. Advertisements using images are becoming more prevalent and rely on complex textual narratives and the CCTV image format to construct crime for public consumption to generate ‘tips’. The advertisements capture a narrow range of ‘street crime’ to the benefit of private business and to the neglect of pervasive and serious conduct affecting the less powerful. The convergence of Crime Stoppers and CCTV surveillance is found to have unanticipated and ironic consequences regarding deterrence and identification, to befit a form of ‘counter-law’, and to demonstrate potential to harm individuals and visible minorities. Theoretical implications of this analysis for understanding assumptions about the relation between image and the Truth of crime, governance, and surveillance are discussed.
Deploying Camera Surveillance Images: The Case of Crime Stoppers
Co-Authored with Dr. Randy Lippert (University of Windsor)
Forthcoming. In A. Doyle, R. Lippert and D. Lyon (Eds.) "Eyes Everywhere: The Global Growth of Camera Surveillance". Routledge.
Moving Images Through an Assemblage: Police, Visual Information, and Resistance
Co-authored with Randy Lippert (University of Windsor)
Published in Critical Criminology - 2011
Through interviews with police and document analysis this article examines the movement of video surveillance images... more Through interviews with police and document analysis this article examines the movement of video surveillance images from source to police to the courts in order to assess and refine the surveillant assemblage concept. Using this concept, the case study reveals asymmetrical criminalization processes involving movement of this visual information. The study finds that most video surveillance images transferred to police come from private sources as a consequence of function creep and that their movement epitomizes creation of criminalized ‘data-doubles’. However, the article argues that this criminalizing movement through the police is revealed as less than a seamless process; it is dependent on human labour and encounters forms of resistance along the way that include increased police workload and technological limitations.
Network technologies: the implementation of new identification technologies at the turn of the century
by Peter Becker
published in: E. Avdela, S. D'Cruze und J. Rowbotham (Eds.): Crime, Violence and the Modern State, 1780-2000: Greece and Western Europe. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen 2010, 119-152.
At the end of the 19th century the arsenal of criminalistic techniques was significantly enhanced. Police detectives,... more At the end of the 19th century the arsenal of criminalistic techniques was significantly enhanced. Police detectives, magistrates, and public prosecutors started to use a wide range of technological innovations to identify repeat offenders who acted under a pseudonym and to reconstruct the mysteries of crime through a systematic analysis of the crime scene. The integration of new techniques into the police was rather difficult and controversial: The practices of the police were regulated by various norms – ranging from clauses in the code of criminal procedure to the instructions issued by police headquarters. For this reason, the introduction of new procedures required a higher degree of adaptation than in the private sector. The focus of my argument is on the ‘local’ conditions, in which the implementation of new technologies was negotiated. From this perspective, we are confronted with a more diverse set of actors than expected. It is no surprise that officials from the Home Office, from the ministry of Justice and police experts played an important role. More surprising is the authority conceded to scholars in the fields of medicine and anthropology as expert witnesses. Most surprising, however, is the active engagement of delegates from municipal councils and of members of provincial and regional administrative bodies. The participants in the ad-hoc networks, which formed around the discussion of new technologies, exchanged their views about the meaning and relevance of new identification schemes, discussed strategies for their implementation, made changes to police and legal procedures, and decided on financial provisions.
