Creative Topic: Detecting, Debilitating and Decreasing Crime
Information Technology is an invaluable tool in the fight against crime. Little wonder technological advances are being utilized all over the world, Jamaica included, to combat the scourge of crime by deterring criminals as well as apprehending them after the act. Snow in his book posited that many leaders in law enforcement today see technology as the key to controlling crime and making our communities safer (9). Information Technology (IT) is defined, according to the Oxford Concise English Dictionary, as the study or use of systems, especially computers and telecommunications, for storing, retrieving, and sending information. Technology is integrated into our everyday lives in innumerable ways. It is almost impossible to go through a day without interfacing with a technological or computerized device. Technology has been of such significant benefit to our lives that it would be foolhardy of us to not explore its usefulness in combating crime - a societal problem of monstrous proportions. Crime is an offence against an individual or the state which is punishable by law. Information Technology can play a part in the fight through crime detection, applying measures in crime fighting, and implementing systems for sustained crime management.
Information Technology can be ably used in the detection of crime. Biometrics, product protection and closed-circuit television (CCTV) are among the elements that can be utilized.
Human beings can be uniquely recognized based upon one or more intrinsic physical traits. According to the Oxford Concise English Dictionary, Biometrics is the application of statistical analysis to biological data. However, the concern is with technologies that analyze human characteristics for automatically recognizing or verifying identity in a context where the biometrics is measurable. The biometric characteristics of
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