Running Head: E-POLICING
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E-Policing- The Effects of Information Technology in the Law Enforcement Practices
Student’s Name
Course
Tutor
Date
E-POLICING
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PART A
What is your proposed research project's topic?
E-policing- The effects of information technology in the law enforcement practices
What problem or issue is your research designed to solve?
Technology has since been a key source of expenditure together with innovation in the
law enforcement, and it is also assumed to be holding great potential for the enhancement of the
police work. However, does the technology capable of achieving these expectations? The
channel of communication along with the flow of information in the law enforcement practices is
indeed slow, static and rigid based on the various standing orders that are laid down for the
institution. The regulation provides that all information before they are passed to the next level of
enforcement or policing, the in-charge officer should approve it by confirming its accuracy.
Majority of the law enforcement agencies are still using the analog process, and this makes the
execution of justice to be slow as there are delays in the analysis of huge amounts of data which
are handled by the police. The sharing of information among different departments within the
law enforcement agencies is not simple, the effective communication systems coupled with
access to the criminal database are yet to be installed in many institutions. The law enforcement
is hampered by the increased bureaucracy of writing formal requisitions to the departmental
heads who are seeking the authority to access the required data (Karake, 2014).
Why is solving the problem or issue important? ( IT related problems)
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People have always yearned for improved law enforcement practices which will also
ensure that they receive fast and efficient justice. The adoption of the new technology will also
reduce the crime rate through the easy management or recording of the data and information.
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References
Lum, C., Koper, C. S., & Willis, J. (2017). Understanding the limits of technology’s impact on
police effectiveness. Police Quarterly, 20(2), 135-163.
Karake, P. E. T. E. R. (2014). Adoption of electronic policing services in crime control in
Nairobi county. Unpublished research project. University of Nairobi. Kenya.
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PART B
How to develop the research topic
When planning or even starting to write a research paper, it is always a usual and
common challenge to develop or determine the research topic. It is even more complicated to
narrow a given them into a research topic. It is also notable that the despite being given a specific
topic of the study (which is not the case here), it will nearly never be so precise that one will not
have to narrow it to at least to some given extent. Besides, one may be faced with a dilemma of
selecting which topic to select after being faced with different topics which I had to choose from.
Some were even remotely related, and it was even difficult to comprehend whether they are
answering the same research problem. Despite the fact that one may desire to begin writing the
procedure through consideration of the variety of various methods to investigating the research
problem, I will need to narrow and focus my research at some point earlier in the process of
writing. This will limit too much work in one research paper.
While narrowing the theme of the research to this topic, I began by considering both my
existing and new knowledge regarding the theme which I was to study. As a competent
researcher and writer, I was not interested in my current knowledge of the theme but rather
valued gaining new knowledge on a given theme, and this guided me in the selected topic.
However, I used my existing knowledge to explore the different concepts and themes further to
come up with the research topic. Similarly, the process of narrowing a research theme into a
selected research topic was guided by my quest to fill a given knowledge gap in what I have
learned so far. Nonetheless, I have to admit that finding this knowledge gap was not easy since I
had to read several research articles, publications and references pages both in the university
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library and the online databases with a critical eye to determine a great deal of the topic area. A
period of one week was enough to determine the selected topic in the criminology because I only
disagreed or criticized the already published research projects.
Additionally, I had to consider a topic which strongly interests me. I am always
fascinated and interested in studying the various areas related to the criminology subject. I
considered this as an important opportunity to examine the areas and come up with a specific
topic area in the same field. Besides, I believe that this topic will make the research process to be
more engaging and fun and avoid getting stuck in the process because the topic is either boring
or complicated. This question was not only interesting to me but also simple and easy to find
various research and studies which would be vital for the research literature review process.
Before making a final decision on the research topic, I had to make sure that the topic is
relevant and it meets the university or the professor’s requirements. The fact that the topic tries
to solve a problem in the law enforcement field through the use of technology is a clear indicator
that the research topic is relevant and meets the assignment requirements.
Creativity is also another critical factor which enhanced my decision to narrow the theme
into this specific topic from the rest. All students are always advised to creative and innovative.
This was one of the best opportunity to showcase my creative skills. Therefore, I had to make
sure that my research topic is not written by different authors over and over again that makes the
research conclusions or results to be predictable. I had to develop a topic which is unique and has
not been much covered. The topic had to be creative and exciting not only to me but also to my
peers and the instructor.
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Nevertheless, I chose the topic based on its scope. I never wanted the topic to be too
broad as the number of pages required in the prompt is not much and therefore making the topic
to be broad would make the research process challenging. Besides, broad information makes it
difficult to find appropriate and relevant information which is indeed relevant and focused.
Concept mapping of key ideas
A concept map creates typically a visual representation and analysis of the various
connections among a collection of targeted topics in a given research primary topic. This concept
map aims to develop a concrete map where the various concepts are shown as nodes along with
the various connections between them.
To begin with, E-policing being the main topic, I had to develop different subtopics to
make the concept complete. I thought of the implementation of the various technologies within
the law enforcement agency and thus came with the three major factors which should be
considered. These include the organizational, social and behavioral elements in the
implementation of the police technologies. After analysis of these aspects, I designed a topic of
technology which could be used in the law enforcement practices. It is evident that this branch
was important as it could help in meeting the research goals which was to completely understand
the technological transformations in policing at the same time make appropriate
recommendations required to optimize the utilization of technology in policing. Specifically,
some of the technologies which will be discussed in the research include information, analytics,
surveillance as well as the forensic technologies. The information technologies which are used
in the law enforcement practices include mobile computing while the analytics and surveillance
technology entails technologies which can be used in the analysis of crime. An example of
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forensic technologies which can be integrated include the license plate readers. After that, I
intended to examine both the intended and unintended ways in which these technologies can
influence the law enforcement practices. Typically, these information technologies will impact
the e-policing through the law enforcement practicing in different ways including the
management, agency culture, agency operations, organizational structure, efficiency and
effectiveness, the interaction of the citizen with the law enforcement officers and the job
satisfaction among the police officers (Hekim et al., 2013).
Effects
Information
E-Policing
Operations, management, structure,
culture, job satisfaction,
effectiveness Technology
Implementation
Forensic
technologies
Behavioral
Social Aspects
Analytic
surveilla
nce
Mobile
computing
Crime
analysis
Organizational
License plate
readers
Perspective on the topic
Knowledge and understanding of the impacts of the technological change is indeed an
issue of concern in the modern policing. In the recent decades, there have been several essential
and interesting changes and developments about the information technology (IT), the systems of
analytics and video surveillance, license plate readers, DNA testing among other technologies
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which have far-reaching effects for the law enforcement officers in their practices. It is also
notable that acquisition of technology along with the decisions of deployment should be a high
priority research topic for individuals practicing and engaged in the provision of justice and
maintenance of law and order. Different levels of government have also been in the forefront in
spending huge sums of resources including technologies in the hopes of enhancing their
effectiveness and efficiency (Hollywood et al., 2015).
However, there is no clear indication that the changes including the improvement of
technology or e-policing are more efficient than the use of the traditional methods. Examination
study on e-policing has always focused more on the operations along with the outputs. For
instance, it is not clear whether the technology is productive and makes the process to getting
justice to be faster. There is no much emphasis on the technology effectiveness in the reduction
of crime or in the enhancement of the service to its major stakeholders who are the citizens.
Nevertheless, the available evidence on the effects of technology on the police performance
indicates that the technology’s effects may be limited or otherwise offset by several elements
alternating from technical issues to the resistance of officers. Establishing an appropriate
knowledge and understanding of the impacts of the technology along with how they can be
optimized is thus a critical problem for law enforcement agencies, especially those hoping to
leverage new and modern technologies as a force multiplier to offset the budget together with the
staffing limits.
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References
Hekim, H., Gul, S. K., & Akcam, B. K. (2013). Police Use of information technologies in
Criminal Investigations. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 9(4).
Hollywood, J. S., Woods, D., Silberglitt, R. S., & Jackson, B. A. (2015). Using future internet
technologies to strengthen criminal justice. RAND Corporation.
Karake, P. E. T. E. R. (2014). Adoption of electronic policing services in crime control in
Nairobi county. Unpublished research project. University of Nairobi. Kenya.
Lum, C., Koper, C. S., & Willis, J. (2017). Understanding the limits of technology’s impact on
police effectiveness. Police Quarterly, 20(2), 135-163.
Shah, A. S., Fayaz, M., Shah, A., & Shah, S. (2015). An Application Development for Record
Keeping of Police Stations in Pakistan. Journal of Scientific Research and
Advances, 2(4), 144-150.
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