It didn’t take long for video images of the crash of the US Airways plane in the Hudson River to be available everywhere. The crash was recorded by a security camera, one of the most prevalent uses of technology in crime prevention. Moreover, a recent article in Parade magazine stated that Las Vegas was the best place in the country to have a heart attack, with a 67 percent survival rate. The remarkable rate was attributed to the vast amount of human and electronic security present in Las Vegas casinos and on Las Vegas streets. The Parade article also stated that the survival rate in Chicago, where there are no casinos, is just 2 percent. Technology has changed our world.
Police officers have been wearing soft body armor since the 1970s, when it was first developed and was seen as a great technological innovation at the time. The intent of the body armor is to protect police officers from deadly attacks. They accomplish the second goal of crime prevention: If you can’t prevent the crime, reduce the loss. Since the 1970s, body armor has saved the lives of more than 3,000 law enforcement officers. Research by the National Institute of Justice has found that an officer is 14 times more likely to survive a serious assault if he or she is wearing body armor. Unfortunately, many officers do not wear the body armor they are provided. According to the most recent law enforcement census conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, only 57 percent of the law enforcement agencies in the United States have a policy mandating that personnel wear body armor at all times while on duty. One very interesting statistic is that body armor has saved about 1,500 law enforcement officers in car accidents. So crime prevention in this instance is also a highway safety tool. And it is the result of technology.
Cell phones are a much underrated crime prevention tool. They provide instantaneous communication in dangerous situations, with photo and video features that allow users to record all types of incidents. Little has been done so far to measure the crime prevention impact of cell phones. A study is long overdue.
Are there more unrecognized crime prevention gains from other new technologies?
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