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The Best Laid Plans: An Assessment of the Intended and Unintended Consequences of Technological Innovation in the Crimin

The Best Laid Plans: An Assessment of the Intended and Unintended Consequences of Technological Innovation in the Criminal Justice System. James M. Byrne, Professor Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Hard Technology CCTV Street Lighting

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The Best Laid Plans: An Assessment of the Intended and Unintended Consequences of Technological Innovation in the Crimin

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  1. The Best Laid Plans: An Assessment of the Intended and Unintended Consequences of Technological Innovation in the Criminal Justice System James M. Byrne, Professor Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology University of Massachusetts, Lowell

  2. Hard Technology CCTV Street Lighting Citizen Protection Devices (e.g. mace, tasers) Metal Detectors Ignition Interlock Systems (drunk drivers) Soft Technology Threat Assessment Instruments Bullying ID Protocol Sex Offender Registration Risk Assessment prior to involuntary civil commitment Profiling Software to identify suspicious persons The New Technology of Crime Prevention

  3. Hard Technology Improved police protection (vests, cars) Improved/new weapons Less than lethal force Computers in squad cars Hands free patrol car control (Project 54) Offender and citizen ID’s via biometrics/fingerprints Gunshot location devices Soft Technology Crime mapping (hot spots) Crime analysis (e.g. COMPSTAT) Criminal history data systems enhancement Info sharing within CJS and private sector CCTV police applications The New Technology of Policing

  4. Hard Technology The high tech courtroom (computers, video, cameras, design features of buildings) Weapon detection devices Video conferencing Electronic court documents Drug testing at pretrial stage Soft Technology Case flow management systems Radio frequency identification technology Data warehousing Automation of court records Problem-oriented courts with unique information system requirements( drug, reentry, gun, domestic violence, and community courts) The New Technology of Law and Courts

  5. Hard Technology Contraband detection devices Duress alarm systems Language translation devices Remote monitoring Perimeter screening Less than lethal force in prison Prison design options/ expansion of super-max prisons Expanded use of segregation units Soft Technology Use of simulations as training tools (mock riots) Facial Recognition software New inmate classification systems (external/internal) Within prison crime analysis ( predicting hot spots; high rate offenders; and prison violence) Info sharing with police, community, victims, and community-based corrections (reentry) The New Technology of Institutional Corrections

  6. Hard Technology GPS, language translators Breathalyzers, instant drug tests Polygraph tests Laptops for line staff GPS for staff location Soft Technology New classification devices for sex, drugs, and MI offenders New workload software/ and Treatment Technology Info sharing with community, police, treatment providers The New Technology of Community Corrections

  7. Three Critical Issues to Consider Will new technology applications in criminal justice result in the replacement of ‘people’ with ‘things’? Will technological advancements in the area of offender control minimize the possibilities for individual & community change? 3. What are the long term consequences of privatization of key technology related CJ system functions?

  8. The New Technology of Crime • The Impact of Technology on Criminality – • 3 Distinct Opportunity Structures—first identified by Richard Sparks in 1980—can be applied to internet-facilitated crimes: • Crime at work • Crime as work • Crime after work

  9. The New Technology of Crime AT Work : Some Examples • Embezzlement • Money Laundering/Financial Frauds • Credit Card Fraud by Employees • Corporate Espionage (via bots, email monitoring, pretexting • Theft/Sale of Private, Confidential, Personal Data • The Spreading of Viruses & Malicious Codes (to gain competitive advantage)

  10. The New Technology of Crime AS Work: Some Examples • Internet Fraud Schemes: Nigerian letter, online auctions, drug/health frauds, lottery frauds, revictimization frauds • Telemarketing Fraud Schemes: Investments, promotions, sales • Identity Theft • Credit Card/Check Fraud • Phishing (for Profit) • Internet Sex Crimes • Sale of Private, Confidential, Personal Data • Internet Piracy • Theft of Computers, Computer Software, InternetAccess

  11. The New Technology of Crime AFTER Work • Internet Sex Crimes (Sex tourism, child pornography, child predators/solicitation) • Internet Hate Crimes • Internet Stalking • Cyber-Terrorism • Spreading Viruses and Malicious Codes • Hacking/Illegal Access to Data

  12. Technology, Crime Control, & the Private Sector in the 21st Century – ISSUE: Is the Private Sector Replacing the Public Sector in the development and application of new technologies of crime prevention and control?

  13. Crime Prevention……… Police………………….. Courts………………….. Institutional Corrections. Community Corrections Intended Unintended Less crime Less Freedom, More Privatization Less crime More Distrust More efficiency More Disparity More Control Less Change More Control Less Change The New Technology of Criminal Justice : Intended vs. Unintended Consequences

  14. The New Technology of Crime Prevention • What is Crime Prevention? • Is it possible to predict and/or prevent crime? • Issue: What should be emphasized: Reduction of ‘Risk Factors’ vs. Growth in ‘Protective Factors’

  15. ‘Hard’ Technology of Crime Prevention • Key Focus : Two technologies with known effects : CCTV and Improved Street Lighting • Key Issue: Can UK-based successes be translated to the US, where current evaluation research does NOT support the expansion of CCTV and/ or Street Lighting?

  16. Crime Prevention & ‘Soft’ Technology • Key Focus: 1. Risk Assessment often focuses on risky people violent offenders, sex offenders and mentally ill offenders) 2. Threat Assessment focuses on risky places (school violence & likely targets for domestic terrorism) • Key Issue: Can we accurately make predictions about either risky people or risky places? What is the appropriate balance between considerations of ‘risk’ and ‘stakes’?

  17. The New Technology of Policing : ‘Hard” Technology Applications • Key Focus: 1.Non-Lethal Weaponry 2. Non-Electric Immobilizing Devices 3. Technology to Reduce the Number of Vehicular Pursuits 4. Technology to Improve Officer Safety 5. Gunshot location technology • Key Issues: • 1. ‘Militarization’ of Police may have unintended consequences for the public and for traditional police functions • 2. Evidence-Based review of the effectiveness of hard technology applications has not been completed

  18. ‘Soft’ Technology and Policing – • Key Focus: • Data Collection & Management • Data- Driven Police Strategies • Key Issues: • Will advances in data utilization revolutionize or simply enhance traditional practices? • What evidence exists that these kinds of technological innovations have improved police performance?

  19. The Courts and Hard Technology: Applying Technological Solutions to Legal Issues - • Key Focus : Implementation of technological innovations in courtroom settings& throughout key decision points in the court process (e.g. pretrial preparation & jury deliberations) • Key Issues: 1. Little knowledge of ‘what works’ in hard technology for courts 2. Is slow pace of such innovations warranted, given the potential for disparity in access to new technologies in court?

  20. The Courts and ‘Soft’ Technology - Corbett • Key focus: Current Implementations – automated court record systems, on-line access to case information, electronic court documents, & data warehouses • Key Issues: • Implementation: One-third of all IT projects for courts are cancelled before completion; A fraction of IT projects are completed on time and under budget; Most IT projects cost nearly twice as much as projected. • Impact: Will “justice” and “fairness” be increased due to these technological innovations? Will improved access to information change court decision-making in ways that actually restrict individual freedom?

  21. ‘Hard’ Technology of Institutional Corrections - • Key Focus: • Facility Monitoring • Inmate/Officer Interactions • High Risk Inmate Control • Key Issue: Inmate numbers increasing and budgets decreasing equates to hard choices: Do we emphasize the new technology to offender control or focus the new technology of offender treatment and change?

  22. ‘Soft’ Technology & Institutional Corrections • Key Focus: • New techniques for classification of inmates & subsequent offender location decisions • New offender monitoring strategies • Problem-Oriented conflict resolution strategies • Information sharing within CJ system( e.g. religious conversion/terrorist threat group membership) • Risk assessment in reentry initiatives • Performance Measurement systems • Key Issue: How can the various forms of ‘soft’ technology be revised to emphasize the goal of offender change rather than short term offender control?

  23. Applications of ‘Hard’ Technology to Community Corrections • Key Focus: • Electronic Monitoring of offenders on active supervision • New drug testing technology • Technologies for alcohol-involved offenders • Technologies for managing sex offenders • Automated reporting systems • Key Issues: • The continuing debate between advocates of control and proponents of treatment-oriented community corrections strategies • The consequences of privatization of certain community corrections functions( e.g. monitoring, treatment) need to be examined.

  24. Community Corrections & ‘Soft’ Technology • Key Focus: • New generation of classification instruments in community corrections; New approaches to offender treatment based on Risk Need Responsivity model • New case management information technology • New approaches to information sharing with the public( e.g sex offender registries), crime mapping, & the assessment of risk level of offenders. • Ongoing lifetime monitoring and supervision of targeted offender groups( sex offenders, murderers), location restrictions identified and compliance monitored continuously. • Key Issue: Advances in ‘soft’ technology have resulted in more control over offenders but have these same advances undermined attempts to change individual behavior?

  25. Concluding Comments: Three Thoughts • 1.Technological Innovation is a means to an end; advocates of various new technologies appear to be assuming that newer technology results in improved performance. Where is the evidence to support this claim? • 2.We need to consider both the intended and the unintended consequences of our ongoing quest for technological solutions for social problems • 3.We need to find ways to use technology to reinforce moral performance at both the institutional and individual levels.

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