How the Police Access Data to Obtain Criminal Information

Running head : LEGAL ISSUES

How the Police Access Data to Obtain Criminal Information

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Advancement in technology has completely changed the way in which law enforcement agents obtain information , organize and make use of that information (Foster , 2005 . Foster (2005 ) states that technology has enhanced the use of information both in strategic and tactical sense Scientific criminal investigation is one of the earliest methods of obtaining information concerning crime and criminals . Fingerprint classification is a very good example of scientific criminal investigation

. Information technology has greatly enhanced the use of fingerprints in criminal investigation (Foster , 2005 . Interviewing is the other method used by law enforcement agents to obtain information Uncle Bob was asked a few questions by the law enforcement officer in order to collect information concerning his name , address and driving license number

All information concerning criminal activities of an individual collected by law enforcement and which law enforcement officers have access to , is taken as privileged information (Foster , 2005 . This implies that this information is for official use only . Law enforcement agencies have general access to a wide range of information of the common man that is confidential and protected by law . The information retained by law enforcement agencies runs the spectrum from crime reports to personnel records (Pattavina , 2005 . Police officers gather a great deal of information , which they preserve for a long time . Majority of the law enforcement agencies in the United States have computerized files and criminal records . This implies that...