■■ topic paper – police practices

Action verb

Transform

Transform involves changing form or nature

Etymology:  < Latin transformāre, < trans- prefix + formāre to form, < forma... (Show More)

 1.

 a. trans. To change the form of; to change into another shape or form; to metamorphose.

▸c1384   Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. iii. 18   Alle we..ben transformyd into the same ymage.

c1400   Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) iv. 11   Of Ypocras daughter transformed from a womman to a dragoun.

1483   Caxton tr. Caton b vij b,   This catte..is myn owne daughter the whiche by the plesure and wylle of god hath bentransfourmed in to a catte.

1548   N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Mark i. f. 5v,   That thynges of muche contrarietie maye easely be transformed, and tourned one into an other.

a1616   Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. ii. 151   And I thinke, if my brest had not beene made of faith, and my heart of steele, she had transform'd me to a Curtull dog, & made me turne i' th wheele.

1660   F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 268   When Magicians shall have power to transform a humane body.

1813   Scott Rokeby i. 47   The victor sees his fairy gold Transformed, when won, to drossy mold.

1827   M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xxiv. 609   Transform several small crystals of sulphate of nickel into a large one.

1853   J. H. Newman Hist. Sketches (1873) II. i. ii. 65   To Samarcand..we owe the art of transforming linen into paper.

 b. transf. To change in character or condition; to alter in function or nature.

1556   J. Heywood Spider & Flie ii. 5   My whole estate..Is here transformde from myrth to miserie.

a1674   T. Traherne Christian Ethicks (1675) 270   Love..Transformes the most Virulent Affections into Smooth, Healing, Perfective Pleasures.

1796   J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 306   He transformed an undisciplined body of peasantry into a regular army of soldiers.

1852   H. Rogers Eclipse of Faith 16   A volume, which has transformed them from savages into men, and from idolaters into Christians.

(Hide quotations)

 c. Math. To alter (a figure, expression, etc.) to another differing in form, but equal in quantity or value. More widely, to subject (any mathematical entity) to a transformation (transformation n. 3c). Also absol.

1884   tr. H. Lotze Logic 332   These equations we transform in all sorts of ways by adding on new quantities, by subtracting others, by multiplication and division of the whole.

1885   H. W. Watson & S. H. Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. I. 155   We now proceed to transform this problem.

1972   M. Kline Math. Thought xix. 427   Finding it difficult to evaluate in rectangular coordinates, he transformed to spherical coordinates.

1982   D. M. Schneider et al. Linear Algebra v. 181   The function f defined by the equation f(x) = x2. This functiontransforms a real number into a real number, namely its square.

 d. Physics. To change (one form of energy) into another, as mechanical energy into electricity, or electric energy into light or heat.

1878   W. Garnett in Encycl. Brit. VIII. 208/2   All other forms of energy with which we are acquainted can betransformed into an equivalent amount of heat.

1902   J. Larmor in Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 164/2   There is a certain measurable quantity associated with each type of physical action..numerically identical with a corresponding quantity belonging to the new type into which it istransformed.

(Hide quotations)

 e. Electr. To change a current in potential, as from high voltage to low voltage, or in type, as from alternating to continuous. transform up, to raise the voltage while decreasing the current. transform down, to lower the voltage while increasing the current.

1888   S. P. Thompson Dynamo-electr. Machinery (ed. 3) 486   At the generating station the alternating currents of low potential were to be transformed by means of an induction-coil to currents of high potential.

1897   T. O'C. Sloane Standard Electr. Dict. (1902) 547   Such dynamo could transform currents up or down.

1902   S. P. Thompson Elem. Lessons Electr. & Magn. 502   To transform continuous currents from one voltage to another it is necessary to employ a rotating apparatus, which is virtually a combination of a motor and a generator.

(Hide quotations)

 f. Molecular Biol. To change (a bacterial cell) into a genetically distinct kind by the introduction into it of DNA from another cell of the same or a closely related species.

1947   Jrnl. Exper. Med. 86 449   Repeated attempts both in vitro and in vivo to transform D39/Int53 to pneumococcus Type III were unsuccessful.

1981   L. L. Mays Genetics vi. 274   Pieces of DNA of molecular weight less than 1·5 × 107 daltons cannot transformHaemophilus influenzae.

(Hide quotations)

 g. Cytology. To cause (a eukaryotic cell) to undergo transformation (transformation n. 3i).

1982   Sci. Amer. Mar. 72/1   Analysis of the DNA of the Rous sarcoma virus has revealed a single gene capable oftransforming cells.

 2. intr. To undergo a change of form or nature; to change.

1667   E. King in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 2 427   The Film does onely cover the Maggot, while she is transforminginto an Ant.

1717   J. Addison in Dryden et al. tr. Ovid Metamorphoses Transf. Cycnus 11   His hair transforms to down, his fingers meet In skinny films, and shape his oary feet.

1747   W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 52   The Female Aurelia's are generally the first which transform, and are those that make their Appearance in the Shape of large Flies.

1827   T. Hood Plea Midsummer Fairies lxxxiii, in Plea Midsummer Fairies & Other Poems 42   Meanwhile I bade my pitying mates transform Like grasshoppers.

1893   J. Harkness & F. Morley Treat. Theory Functions i. 14   If w = u + iv be a one-valued monogenic function of x +iy, the systems of orthogonal straight lines x = a, y = b transform into systems of orthogonal curves in the w-plane.

1970   R. Passmore & J. S. Robson Compan. Med. Stud. II. xxii. 9/2   The function of antigen at the surface of the lymphocyte is to induce it to transform and proliferate into active antibody-producing cells.

1971   Nature 26 Nov. 187/1   The larva then transforms to a pupa.

Transformation can radically alter the supposed original purpose of something, including a legal institution.

NIETZSCHE 1997/(1887) (Friedrich, key 19^th century philosopher who influentially advanced the applied use of genealogy as a way to naturalize ‘all too human’ and thus not transcendental/universal/eternal origins of philosophical concepts, social norms, etc, On the Genealogy of Morality, orig published 1887, trans. Carol Diethe, Ed. Keith Ansell-Pearson, p 50-52)[AR SPRING16]

Now another word on the origin and purpose of punishment - two problems which are separate, or ought to be: unfortunately people usually throw them together. How have the moral genealogists reacted so far in this matter? Naively, as is their wont -: they highlight some 'purpose' in punishment, for example, revenge or deterrence, then innocently place the purpose at the start, as causa fiendi of punishment, and - have finished. But 'purpose in law' is the last thing we should apply to the history of the emergence of law: on the contrary, there is no more important proposition for every sort of history than that which we arrive at only with great effort but which we really should reach, - namely that the origin of the emergence of a thing and its ultimate usefulness, its practical application and incorporation into a system of ends, are toto coelo separate; that anything in existence, having somehow come about, is continually interpreted anew, requisitioned anew, transformed and redirected to a new purpose by a power superior to it; that everything that occurs in the organic world consists of overpowering, dominating, and in their turn, overpowering and dominating consist of re-interpretation, adjustment, in the process of which their former 'meaning' [Sinn] and 'purpose' must necessarily be obscured or completely obliterated. No matter how perfectly you have understood the usefulness of any physiological organ (or legal institution, social custom, political usage, art form or religious rite), you have not yet thereby grasped how it emerged: uncomfortable and unpleasant as this may sound to more elderly ears,- for people down the ages have believed that the obvious purpose of a thing, its utility, form and shape, are its reason for existence, the eye is made to see, the hand to grasp. So people think punishment has evolved for the purpose of punishing. But every purpose and use is just a sign that the will to power has achieved mastery over something less powerful, and has impressed upon it its own idea [Sinn] of a use function; and the whole history of a 'thing', an organ, a tradition can to this extent be a continuous chain of signs, continually revealing new interpretations and adaptations, the causes of which need not be connected even amongst themselves, but rather sometimes just follow and replace one another at random. The 'development' of a thing, a tradition, an organ is therefore certainly not its progressus towards a goal, still less is it a logical progressus, taking the shortest route with least expenditure of energy and cost, - instead it is a succession of more or less profound, more or less mutually independent processes of subjugation exacted on the thing, added to this the resistances encountered every time, the attempted transformations for the purpose of defence and reaction, and the results, too, of successful countermeasures. The form is fluid, the 'meaning' [Sinn] even more so . . . It is no different inside any individual organism: every time the whole grows appreciably, the 'meaning' [Sinn] of the individual organs shifts, - sometimes the partial destruction of organs, the reduction in their number (for example, by the destruction of intermediary parts) can be a sign of increasing vigour and perfection. To speak plainly: even the partial reduction in usefulness, decay and degeneration, loss of meaning [Sinn] and functional purpose, in short death, make up the conditions of true progressus: always appearing, as it does, in the form of the will and way to greater power and always emerging victorious at the cost of countless smaller forces. The amount of 'progress' can actually be measured according to how much has had to be sacrificed to it; man's sacrifice en bloc to the prosperity of one single stronger species of man - that would be progress . . . - I lay stress on this major point of historical method, especially as it runs counter to just that prevailing instinct and fashion which would much rather come to terms with absolute randomness, and even the mechanistic senselessness of all events, than the theory that a power-will is acted out in all that happens. The democratic idiosyncrasy of being against everything that dominates and wants to dominate, the modern misarchism (to coin a bad word for a bad thing) has gradually shaped and dressed itself up as intellectual, most intellectual, so much so that it already, today, little by little penetrates the strictest, seemingly most objective sciences, and is allowed to do so; indeed, I think it has already become master of the whole of physiology and biology, to their detriment, naturally, by spiriting away their basic concept, that of actual activity. On the other hand, the pressure of this idiosyncrasy forces 'adaptation' into the foreground, which is a secondrate activity, just a reactivity, indeed life itself has been defined as an increasingly efficient inner adaptation to external circumstances (Herbert Spencer). But this is to misunderstand the essence of life, its will to power, we overlook the prime importance that the spontaneous, aggressive, expansive, re-interpreting, re-directing and formative forces have, which 'adaptation' follows only when they have had their effect; in the organism itself, the dominant role of these highest functionaries, in whom the lifewill is active and manifests itself, is denied. One recalls what Huxley reproached Spencer with, - his 'administrative nihilism': but we are dealing with more than 'administration' . . .

Transforming the police (contextual ev)

(Solvency advocate who uses ‘transform’ language): US should transform police culture. Fed should cut off supply of military equipment, states should constrain appropriate uses of SWAT teams. Local agencies should change ‘warrior’ police training

ACLU 2014 (American Civil Liberties Union, “War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing”, June 2014, https://www.aclu.org/report/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-police, p41-42, note://// indicates par. breaks)[AR SPRING16]

The militarization of policing is one example of how contemporary policing in America is failing to deliver on its primary objective of protecting and serving communities. The culture of policing in America needs to evolve beyond the failed War on Drugs, and the police should stop perceiving the people who live in the communities they patrol—including those the police suspect of criminal activity—as enemies.//// This type of reform must be achieved systemically and include a transformation in police culture; the problems of overly aggressive policing cannot be solved by disciplining a few officers or dismissing the problem as a few isolated incidents. These recommendations are aimed at ensuring that law enforcement responses minimize harm to civilians and property and maximize as oppose to jeopardize the safety of everyone involved.//// The federal government should take the lead by reining in programs that incentivize local police to engage in excessively militarized tactics, especially in drug cases. The federal government holds the purse strings, and restricting the flow of federal funds and military-grade equipment into states and localities, and/or conditioning funds on the appropriate use and training with regards to such equipment, would significantly reduce the overuse of hyper-aggressive tactics and military-grade tools in local communities.//// Additionally, state legislatures and municipalities should impose meaningful restraints on the use of SWAT. SWAT deployments should be limited to the kinds of scenarios for which these aggressive measures were originally intended – barricade, hostage, and active shooter situations. Rather than allowing for a SWAT deployment in any case that is deemed (for whatever reason the officers determine) to be “high risk,” the better practice would be for law enforcement agencies to have in place clear standards limiting SWAT deployments to scenarios that are truly “high risk.”//// SWAT teams should never be deployed based solely on probable cause to believe drugs are present, even if they have a warrant to search a home. In addition, SWAT teams should not equate the suspected presence of drugs with a threat of violence. SWAT deployment for warrant service is appropriate only if the police can demonstrate, before deployment, that ordinary law enforcement officers cannot safely execute a warrant without facing an imminent threat of serious bodily harm. In making these determinations it is important to take into consideration the fact that use of a SWAT team can escalate rather than ameliorate potential violence; law enforcement should take appropriate precautions to avoid the use of SWAT whenever possible. In addition, all SWAT deployments, regardless of the underlying purpose, should be proportional—not all situations call for a SWAT deployment consisting of 20 heavily armed officers in an APC, and partial deployments should be encouraged when appropriate. Local police departments should develop their own internal policies calling for restraint and should avoid all training programs that encourage a “warrior” mindset.

Policies that transform the police can address the various roles police play, but the ultimate goal of policing remains preserving life, upholding the law, etc

MILLER & BLACKLER professors @ centre for applied philosophy & public ethics @ Charles Sturt University 2005 (Seumas & John, Charles Sturt University, Australia, Ethical Issues in Policing, p.21-22 , note://// indicates par. breaks)[AR SPRING16]

In times of institutional crisis, or at least institutional difficulty, problemsolving strategies and policies for reform need to be framed in relation to the fundamental ends or goals of the institution; which is to say they need to be contrived and implemented on the basis of whether or not they will contribute to transforming the institution in ways that will enable it to provide, or better provide, the moral good(s) which justify its existence. However, in relation to policing, as with other relatively modern institutions - the media is another example - there is an unclarity as to what precisely its fundamental ends or goals are. Indeed, it is sometimes argued that there can be no overarching philosophical theory or explanatory framework that spells out the fundamental nature and point of policing, and that this is because the activities that police engage in are so diverse.//// Certainly the police are involved in a wide variety of activities, including control of politically-motivated riots, traffic control, dealing with cases of assault, investigating murders, intervening in domestic and neighbourhood quarrels, apprehending thieves, saving people's lives, making drug busts, shooting armed robbers, dealing with cases of fraud, and so on. Moreover, they have a number of different roles. They have a deterrence role as highly visible authority figures with the right to deploy coercive force. They also have a law enforcement role in relation to crimes already committed. This latter role involves not only the investigation of crimes in the service of truth, but also the duty to arrest offenders and bring them before the courts so that they can be tried and - if found guilty - punished. And police also have an important preventative role in relation to crime and disorder. How, it is asked, could we possibly identify any defining features, given this diverse array of activities and roles?//// One way to respond to this challenge is to first distinguish between the activities or roles in themselves and the goal or end that they serve, and then try to identify the human or social good served by these activities. So riot control is different from traffic control, and both are different from drug busts, but all these activities have a common goal, or at least a delimited set of goals. Moreover, this common goal or set of goals is a human or social good, or at least a delimited set of such goods. The human or social goods to be aimed at by police will include upholding the law, maintaining social order, and preserving human life.2 8 Indeed, policing seems to involve an apparent multiplicity of ends or goals. However, some ends, such as the enforcement of law and the maintenance of order, might be regarded as more central to policing than others, such as financial or administrative goals realised by (say) collecting fees on behalf of government departments, issuing speeding tickets, and serving summonses.//// But even if we consider only so-called "fundamental" ends, there is still an apparent multiplicity. For example, there is the end of upholding the law, but there is also the end of bringing about order or conditions of social calm, and there is the end of saving lives. Indeed, Lord Scarman relegates law enforcement to a secondary status by contrast with the peace-keeping r o l e . 2 9 Moreover, the end of enforcing the law can be inconsistent with bringing about order or conditions of social calm. As Skolnick says: "Law is not merely an instrument of order, but may frequently be its adversary".3 0//// Can these diverse and possibly conflicting ends or goals be reconciled? As discussed above, we suggest that they can, and by recourse to the notion of justifiably enforceable moral rights. The first point here is that the criminal law in particular is, or ought to be, fundamentally about ensuring the protection of certain moral rights, e.g. the right to life.

Transforming the police can involve: training, diversity etc – U.S. contextual evidence shows

WOOD 2009 (Daniel B., s/w, “LAPD chief Bratton leaves a police force transformed”. Christian Science Monitor, Oct 31, ln, note://// indicates par. breaks)[AR SPRING16]

When he was selected to head the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in October 2002, William Bratton was one of the most successful names in American policing being asked to turn around one of the nation's largest and most troubled police departments. Seven years later, Mr. Bratton ends a tenure that has seen crime drop 30 percent and a police force transformed. "Los Angeles' police force is better trained, more diverse, better disciplined and better led than the one that betrayed the city's trust in 1992," The Los Angeles Times declared. "Its work is appreciated by residents across racial lines. Its record, though not perfect, is far less inflammatory and far more constructive

You can transform the police via training (contextual, but not in the U.S.)

CRUZ 2014 (Marciel, reporter, “US-trained cops lead PNP’s drive versus human trafficking”, Manila Times (Philippines), August 11, p. ln, note://// indicates par. breaks)[AR SPRING16]

Forty-three police personnel have completed a United States-sponsored training on law enforcement operations against human trafficking conducted by the Philippine National Police Training Service in partnership with the U.S. International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program ICITAP.//// This developed as PNP Chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. underscored the need for the national police to address issue on human trafficking through proper training of policemen.//// "Trafficking in persons is among the top law enforcement issues that the PNP is addressing through proper training of police investigators, community relations officers and beat patrol officers," Razon said.//// Police Director German Doria, PNP director for Human Resource and Doctrine Development (DHRDD), said ICITAP provided a combination of technical assistance and training intended to support the institutionalization of "PNP's Transformation Plan." by designing and delivering a comprehensive police assistance program.//// "ICITAP also assists in developing a plan for the model police station concept; hopefully, we can fully implement this concept throughout the country," Doria said.//// The ICITAP is facilitated by its manager, Richard Miller.//// The national police's Transformation Plan includes Model Police Training, which is divided into two tiers. The first tier consists of Instructor Development, Community Policing, Basic or First Line Supervision, Ethics, Human Rights, Crime Scene Investigation and Civil Disturbance Management.//// Tier two of the training involves Crimes Against Women and Children, Trafficking in Persons, Terrorism Overview, Mid-Level Management, Internal Affairs, Basic Criminal Investigations and Media Relations.//// Tier one was conducted for Marikina, Quezon, Baguio, Boracay, Kalibo, Puerto Princesa, Zamboanga, Marawi and Sorsogon stations. The Maritime Group and the PNP Training Service were also included. The training was concluded in June 2008 while tier two of the training is expected to conclude in December.//// At present, ICITAP has three projects including the training for ten model police stations throughout the Philippines, a boat project and training for the Maritime Group and basic and advanced training for PNP officers in Jolo, Sul

Transforming the police can involve: shift to community policing – U.S. contextual evidence shows

JENNINGS 1993 (Veronica, “Montgomery Unveils Police Transformation”, Washington Post, Sep8, p ln, note://// indicates par. breaks)[AR SPRING16]

The Montgomery County Police Department released its blueprint for "community policing" yesterday, outlining nearly 300 recommendations that would put more officers on the street and gradually transform the way police services are delivered in the county.//// Like most police agencies locally and across the nation, Montgomery County is abandoning the more traditional approach of arrests and criminal citations as the main vehicles to curb crime in favor of community-oriented policing. //// Under the newer concept, beat officers are encouraged to become more involved with residents and merchants, to help solve recurrent neighborhood problems, and to look for ways to prevent crime. //// At a news conference yesterday, Police Chief Clarence Edwards and County Executive Neal Potter discussed the county's five-year community policing plan, the result of 20 months of committee revisions by more than 350 people, from business leaders to community activists and rank-and-file police officers. //// The plan calls for the following: //// "More police patrols in growing, heavily congested sections of the county, especially the Route 29 corridor, the Piney Branch Road-Flower Avenue area and Olney. //// "Redrawing of police districts and beats to allow patrol officers to devote at least 3.5 hours of their 10-hour shifts to community policing. //// "Transferring many traditional police functions, such as processing people arrested and serving court warrants, to the county's Department of Corrections and the Sheriff's Department, respectively. //// "Routing more non-emergency calls to other county agencies or the police department's telephone reporting unit, which is staffed by civilians. //// Officials could not provide cost estimates on the plan, but Potter said it could mean a 28 percent increase in patrol officers. According to police estimates, if the department expanded its patrol beats, 46 to 72 additional officers could be needed. //// Skepticism among rank-and-file officers could be one of the major hurdles confronting community policing, officials said yesterday. Still, Edwards said he anticipates officers "will buy into the concept once they become involved and see results."

Transforming the police work can involve: dealing with excessive force, racial profiling, etc – U.S. contextual evidence shows

NEW ORLEANS CITY BUSINESS 2010 (No author given, “Feds answer Mayor Landrieu’s call to overhaul NOPD”, May 17, p ln, note://// indicates par. breaks)[AR SPRING16]

The federal government plans to begin a probe of the New Orleans Police Department, whose reputation has been rocked by recent scandals.//// The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division will be involved in the investigation, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez wrote in a letter today to Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who took office this month and requested the federal government's assistance in helping with a "complete transformation" of the NOPD. //// The investigation will look at "allegations of excessive force, unconstitutional searches and seizures, racial profiling, failures to provide adequate police services to particular neighborhoods and related misconduct," according to Perez's letter. //// Landrieu, Perez and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin announced the investigation today. //// Landrieu, in a press release, said the feds have accepted his invitation to "help support a substantive reform of the New Orleans Police Department's patterns and practices. "//// DOJ's Civil Rights Division has worked with other police departments around the country, including those in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh, to improve their operations and administration, the press release says. //// On May 5, Landrieu wrote to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, requesting a partnership to transform the NOPD "into one of the best police forces in the United States. "//// "I have inherited a police force that has been described by many as one of the worst police departments in the country," Landrieu wrote. "This assessment is made based on several indicators including the number of violent crimes, incidents of rape and malfeasance by members of the police department. //// "It is clear that nothing short of a complete transformation is necessary and essential to ensure safety for the citizens of New Orleans. "//// Landrieu has also ordered the NOPD to cooperate with the city's inspector general and police monitor and comply with their requests for records and information. //// Landrieu also said the NOPD's weekly meetings in which crime stats are reviewed will be open to the public starting this week. //// "These are just the first steps of what will be a long process in completely reforming a department that in large measure had lost its way," Landrieu said today.

Transforming the police work can involve: surveillance cameras – U.S. contextual evidence shows

LEE 2005 (Jennifer, “Private Cameras Transform Police Work”, NYT, May 22 late edition, p ln, note://// indicates par. breaks)[AR SPRING16]

A motorcyclist was killed by a hit-and-run driver on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. But the driver could not run far: a wide-angle surveillance camera at a B.P. gas station recorded the collision, and a camera at a construction site captured him removing the license plates and throwing them into a trash bin. The recordings -- and the license plate -- led the police to the man and his white Mercury Marquis.//// A woman was stealing wallets from women's locker rooms in health clubs on the Upper West Side. Then one of the stolen credit cards was used at a Filene's Basement in Manhattan. Using the transaction information and the store's surveillance video, the police matched the thief's image with another surveillance video of her stealing from a Jewish community center, created a wanted poster and soon had her under arrest. //// The proliferation of private surveillance cameras around the city and the nation -- and their public-sector counterparts -- have spurred debates about privacy. But more quietly, in ways large and small, the cameras are doing something else: they are transforming police work, joining witnesses and fingerprints as key tools in investigations. //// ''One of the things we do at the scene of any crime is look for cameras, private-sector cameras,'' said Raymond W. Kelly, the New York City police commissioner. ''It was not standard procedure 10 or 15 years ago.''//// As the cost of digital video systems drops and as the quality of their images improves, surveillance cameras are appearing in places like health clubs, construction sites and carwashes. Spurred after 9/11 by security concerns and businesses' increasing vigilance over their customers and employees, the video surveillance industry is growing at about 15 to 20 percent a year, about double the rate before Sept. 11, according to Joe Freeman, the chief executive of JP Freeman, a security consulting company. //// Cameras now play a role in recording evidence on crimes from pickpocketing to murders to bombings. Two week ago, when two handmade grenades exploded outside a Third Avenue office building, detectives immediately began a search of surrounding cameras. They came up with more than 40 video recordings from more than 20 locations, including one from directly across the street that showed the explosions. Using the video, the police have been able to identify several potential witnesses. //// ''It used to be you got to a crime scene and what you had was whatever was left there: a cigarette stub or a tire skid,'' said John Firman, director of research for the International Association for Chiefs of Police. ''Now it's possible to have between 5 to 10 video clips that they can gather from that area, depending on how public that area is.''//// The tapes can prove more reliable than human witnesses' fuzzy recollections. The objective nature of cameras has been critical in forcing confessions and gaining convictions. In the perjury trial of the performer known as Lil' Kim, in which she was convicted, a video shows her standing within a few feet of Damion Butler, a rap producer known as D-Roc, before a shootout, even though she claimed in her grand jury testimony that she did not recall his presence. //// The improving quality of cameras, recording systems and digital enhancement means that evidence -- like a license plate number or a face -- can be more easily singled out. It is not simply ''caught-in-the-act'' scenes that prove helpful, but also views of people coming and going from the crime scene, or even videos from a completely different time and place that are linked to the original crime and suspect.

Transforming the police can involve: bolstering/expanding their role – U.S. contextual evidence shows

HSU 2001 (Spencer, s/w, “New Needs Transform Capitol Security; Anti-Terror Funds Bolster Police Force”, Washington Post, Nov 29, , ln, note://// indicates par. breaks)[AR SPRING16]

Congress is transforming the once-obscure U.S. Capitol Police force into an elite federal law enforcement agency, one that is capable of handling an array of sophisticated biological and chemical threats and whose members are paid as much as the Secret Service agents who guard the president.//// The security overhaul, included in a $ 20 billion anti-terror bill that passed the House last night, launches a hurried drive to protect the Capitol complex from a terrorist attack. The 1,300-member Capitol Police force would get up to 151 more officers, a new command center and headquarters, a new training academy in Maryland and an expanded vehicle fleet, among other upgrades. //// "Our uncertain times have presented enormous, unforeseen challenges for the police," House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) said in a statement. "Now more than ever we need to provide them with all the needed tools and resources to maximize their potential as an elite law enforcement agency." //// Overall, Congress has rushed to complete a $ 600 million security plan to protect members, 20,000 employees and visitors. The plan, spurred by weaknesses exposed by the Sept. 11 attacks, would make permanent the anti-vehicle perimeter installed around the 276-acre Capitol complex after the attacks. It also would direct public access to a secure underground visitors center and help lawmakers meet and confer during a crisis. //// The $ 265 million visitors center has been debated since the mid-1970s but until now has not been fully funded. The Bush administration has pledged $ 139 million toward the center to help close the funding gap. //// The center's cost has risen since Sept. 11 to add space for new programs for visitors and to meet increased security requirements. For example, plans were redrawn to ventilate the center through Capitol elevator shafts, protecting the rest of the building from a possible release of contaminants. //// Construction will begin in January and the center is scheduled to open before the 2005 presidential inauguration. //// For the police department, the sweeping changes also reflect a mission expanded after the terrorist attacks. Members of the Capitol Police worked 12-hour shifts at least six days a week before being relieved this month by reinforcements from the D.C. Army National Guard. //// Congress is paying $ 35 million just in police overtime through December. That total is more than one-fourth of the department's 2001 budget of $ 129 million. //// Emergency anti-terror funds that the House approved last night, 406 to 20, and in Congress's own budget approved earlier this month by the House and Senate would supplement the police budget by more than $ 100 million, according to House aides. //// The department could deploy up to 72 agents in a new chemical and biological response unit that would surpass D.C. police capabilities and those of all but a few departments in the country. Officers will be assigned to guard entrances, patrol offices, monitor vehicles and pedestrians, conduct investigations in the field and increase protection for members and their families. //// The total cost of the enhanced security is still uncertain, reflecting ongoing expenses that have been exacerbated by the anthrax crisis on Capitol Hill. About $ 65 million has been spent so far on testing, decontamination efforts and new mail handling procedures. //// More broadly, the Capitol Police department is charged with providing plans in two weeks for a new office of emergency planning, preparedness and operations for Congress. The House also directed Police Chief James J. Varey to devise a response to new biological and chemical threats. //// The package includes $ 70 million to back up the legislative branch's computer systems at a remote location, akin to the Pentagon network, and to set up a communications system for members, who were startled to find themselves scattered and cut off for several hours on Sept. 11 when local telephone lines jammed and cellular networks overloaded. //// "It's about making sure that during an emergency situation that [Congress] will be able to coordinate," said Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Administration Committee. "Prior to Sept. 11, there were things we didn't particularly think of." //// To a degree, the spending fulfills items long on a police wish list. While officers are well-paid compared with some other federal police forces around Washington, only now is Congress increasing their pay to levels earned by members of the Secret Service and U.S. Park Police. //// The agency trains recruits at a state-of-the-art Federal Law Training Center in Glynco, Ga. But the House approved $ 8.5 million to expand a Cheltenham facility to offer specialized instruction to Capitol Police officers at a more convenient location. //// Varey and his deputy also may receive raises, and police will be able to move out of their headquarters at D Street NE into a secure facility. //// "The job of the Capitol Police has changed radically since September 11," a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) said yesterday. "These measures will help them face a whole array of new challenges in protecting the Capitol and the people who work and visit here."

Download 1 Mb.

Share with your friends: