Future Law Enforcement

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In a lecture he gave today in the Future Forces conference, Chief Superintendent Dan Fisher, Head of the strategy policy unit in the strategy division of the Israeli Police, talked about the future police forces and crime.

Classic crime, he said, is decreasing. This is thanks to police having better technological means, and also because weaker and impoverished areas are being strengthened with strong population. On the other hand, there is an increase in cyber crime. Technology can also be used for crime. Drugs can be smuggled with drones and UAVs and with autonomous cars in the future. There is also the possibility to print weapon with 3D printers. Nano-bots – tiny robots that can carry a drug that is released inside a human body upon command can, at the same time, be used upon command to release substances to kill a person. Crime can also use synthetic biology – when DNA can be printed and traded – and some Darknet criminals are experts in bio-cyber. There is a large group on the Darknet that sets as a goal to mess people’s lives through the Internet of Things. Every picture on Facebook and other social networks have become a source of information on people used by criminals. The Darknet also has pedophilia sites, lists of assassins and a variety of other illegal activities, some of which also involve Israelis. To cope with these situations, the police and intelligence agencies are active in law enforcement on the Darknet when on top of that, early researches are now being conducted on the ability to draw information from the human brain, which can make officers’ job much easier.

Chief Superintendant Fisher went on to elaborate on future policing trends to face this future criminal potential, including:

• A change in attitude from fighting crime to controlling crime.
• Fighting vandalism which affects citizens’ personal security.
• Heading towards civil transparency, where the citizen acts as a partner to the police. This, for instance, might include pressing charges from home.
• Trying to foresee crime – an attemps which has a 70% success rate even today.
• Taking DNA samples and forming a DNA bank, as well as DNA face recognition.
• Wearable gear for the police officer (suit, body camera, google glass etc.)

There is a need, Fisher said, to fit legislation to the modern age, such as with intellectual property. The future commander will have technological skills and already today the police are focusing on technological abilities in courses.

The qualification of the police and the police officers will be adjusted, as is already starting to happen, to all these new challenges.

 More updates from the Future Forces conference ahead.