Detection-protecting civil liberties

For decades, police and other government agencies have documented their interactions with citizens – whether they take the form of helping a stranded motorist, offering first aid or responding to a crime – as a matter of procedure. Historically, this documentation was performed on paper. The main purpose of this record-keeping was just that, record-keeping. A secondary and often overlooked use for all of this information has been to detect and identify aberrant behavior or anomalies that may support planned or ongoing criminal activity. Traditionally, police have been lawfully permitted to collect data and share such information with other law enforcement officials while being judicious about revealing details that could jeopardize a criminal investigation. It wasn’t until the computerization of police record keeping, however, that privacy concerns among civil libertarians and privacy groups arose to a much greater extent. Law enforcement officials can now search and retrieve information much easier and faster with CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) systems and RMS (Record Management Systems) systems supported by powerful, sophisticated software. The speed and accuracy with which police can now search repositories of information on criminals, suspects and victims, however, is disagreeable to some groups because they fear innocent people may, inadvertently or through unprofessional police practice, become objects of suspicion.