Police Technology in the USA

The states and local communities in the U.S. have rights that in other countries generally belong to the central government. There is no national police force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (the FBI) influence being limited to a very few federal crimes, such as kidnapping. Each state has its own state police and its own criminal laws. The same is true with, for example, marriage and divorce laws, driving laws and licenses, drinking laws, and voting procedures. In turn, each city has its own police force that it hires, trains, controls, and organizes. Neither the President nor the governor of a state has direct power over it. By the way, police departments of counties are often called "sheriffs departments". Sheriffs are usually elected, but state and city police officials are not.

In the U.S., the first full-time organized police departments were formed in New York City in 1845 and shortly thereafter in Boston, not only in response to crime but also to control unrest. The American police adopted many British methods, but at times they became involved in local politics.

Requests for police services are generally transmitted to headquarters by telephone and then by radio to officers in the field Modern computer-assisted dispatching systems permit automatic selection of the nearest officer in service. Officers can receive messages displayed on computer terminals in their cars, without voice communication from headquarters. An officer, for example, can key in the license number of a suspect car and receive an immediate response from the computer as to the status of the car and the owner's identity.

An increasing number of agencies are now using computers to link crime patterns with certain suspects. Fingerprints found at crime scenes can be electronically compared with fingerprint files.

In recent years technological advances have been made in such areas asvoice identification, use of the scanning electron microscope, and blood testing which is an important tool because only 2 persons in 70,000 have identical blood characteristics. Some of the new laboratory techniques, although highly effective, are extremely expensive, so their use is limited to the most challenging cases.

Vocabulary

accused adj обвиняемый (в преступлении); the accused n обвиняемый; подсудимый

accuse v обвинять

amendment n поправка

challenge n вызов

commit a crime v совершить преступление

county n амер. округ

evidence n 1 свидетельские показания; 2 улики

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) n Федеральное бюро расследований

(ФБР)

felony n фелония; уголовное преступление

hire v нанимать

impartial adj беспристрастный

innocent adj невиновный; the innocent n невиновный

issue n публикация; положение; вопрос

kidnapping n похищение человека с целью выкупа

occupant n житель

pose v создавать (проблему); представлять

provide v предусмотреть

punishment n наказание

reasonable adj справедливый; разумный; обоснованный; соответствующий

response n ответ

search n обыск; досмотр; search v производить обыск

seizure n задержание

state v заявить; state under oath заявить под присягой

trend n направление; тенденция

unrest n беспорядок

voting procedure n процедура голосования

warrant n ордер (на обыск, арест); судебная повестка; to obtain a warrant получить ордер

 

 

Reading tasks

Answer these questions.

1 How does the US Constitution ensure the administration of justice?

2 What action should police take prior to arresting a suspect?

3 In what cases can a police officer stop and search the suspect?

4 What does the procedure of stop and search consist of?

5 What document is necessary to carry out an arrest?

6 What are the arrestable offences?

7 When can a person be arrested without a warrant?

8 What has changed in the law since 1980?

9 How do computers assist in police work?

10 What technological advances have been made in law-and-order campaign?

11 Why is blood testing an important tool in crime detection?