The Using technology to curb terrorism

Introduction

With the invention of technology, many companies, among others, have harnessed its utility in business operations. Finance, politics, fitness, recreation, schooling, livestock, and transportation are only a few of the industries that have adopted and introduced technology. For the longest time, crime-solving has become a threat to civilization. Prior to the advent of science, combating crime was an exceedingly complex mission. While the art of crime-solving has not yet reached its pinnacle, technology has increased productivity in crime-fighting efforts. Furthermore, technology can be used to further ease this task in various ways that will be discussed in this paper

Problem statement

Terrorism is a heinous act of war often incited by religious, social or political beliefs. Technology can be used to prevent terrorist attacks

Aim

Technology poses challenges to law enforcement agencies as they strive to keep with criminals who heavily harness technology in their terrorist activities. Nonetheless, application of technology by law enforcers in crime fighting can do more good than harm if adequately applied.

Objective

The objective of this research proposal is to discuss some of the ways in which law enforcement agencies can harness technology to fight terrorism

Literature review

Technology helps the law enforcers to stay ahead of the criminals besides enabling them to develop new ways to prevent crime. It is important to note that emerging technology is available to both the law enforcers and the crime perpetrators. For these reasons, the tussle between the perpetrators and the authorities has been like a cat and mouse kind of engagement. On one hand, the authorities coin new tech-oriented techniques to track down the criminals, and on the other, the criminals come up with new techniques to evade the authorities. This kind of engagement sheds doubt on whether crime will ever be fully stopped. In the pursuit, if crime free society, law enforcement agencies can increase their application of technology to curb crime further. Technology can be harnessed by the law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism in various ways. This section will delve on some of how technology can be used can help curb terrorist attacks.

Law enforcement agencies’ international reach

Law enforcement agencies are spread across an international justice system that goes beyond the local confines of a nation. However, each of these agencies operates independently. One of the challenges in crime fighting in the past has been inaccessibility of timely information, which derailed the coordination of crime-fighting efforts (Taylor et al 67). Advancements in information sharing among the agencies can help solidify the relationship between the agencies besides facilitating timely access to vital information.

Harnessing social media

Social media is one of the trendy breakthroughs in technology and for law enforcement, agencies that effectively harness technology social media can be an effective platform to reinforce crime-fighting efforts (Onook 45). For instance, criminals have always had a tendency to leave trails on social media, which means that law enforcement agencies can look to social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to get vital clues. Consequently, the authorities can then disseminate the information to concerned citizens notifying them of any dangerous developments. The public can be a rich source of vital information, but this can only be made possible if the authorities harness social media.

Decoding software

Just like law enforcement agencies, terrorist groups have international reach. This, therefore, means that they cannot afford to meet for meetings and deliberations every now and then. For that reason, they opt to meet through social media such as Facebook and Twitter. However, they converse in private mode which they are able to do by using encryption software to ensure that their messages are encoded. Thus, incorporating technology in the form of decoding software can help the law enforcement authorities to curb terrorism.

Crime mapping technology

Traditionally, identify terrorist prone areas consumed a lot of person-hours, but presently this can be done using the mapping technology (Robert et al., 24). Crime mapping technology enables the law enforcement authorities to single out most problematic areas hence assisting in tracking down the fugitives. Crime mapping technology is like a sophisticated ’pin map.’ It highlights crime-prone areas and facilitates in geographic profiling which gives the law enforcers a better view of the crime trends. Application of this technology can go a long way in stopping terrorist attacks.

Mobile technology

Mobile technology keeps atrial of calls, emails, and texts. Additionally, mobile technology is very effective in allowing for GPS tracking. Smartphones are being used by virtually every person with fair knowledge of how they operate. Considering the advantages that come with smartphones and the multiple operations one can run with it, crime perpetrators cannot resist making use of them. The GPS location beemed by the smartphones and the data derived from the smartphones can help the officers get a good start in their investigation (Spitzberg et al., 82). Data encrypted in the smartphones can be retrieved by applying forensic technology hence narrowing down on imminent acts of terrorism.

Embracing mobile technology

Mobile technology, unlike any other technology, is synonymous with the use of applications. These applications range from wallpaper apps, music apps, drawing apps and the most common chatting apps like WhatsApp and Telegram among others. Terrorist groups like ISIS are known to use these chatting applications for communication and specifically telegram. Telegram impressed that they have closed some ISIS-affiliated telegram groups. While this may derail ISIS communications, it also impacts the communications of public channels. This, therefore, means that law enforcers opt to embrace and increase the use of mobile technology in their investigations.

Surveillance coverage

Upgrading and increasing surveillance coverage can go a long way in enabling law enforcement agencies curb and avert terrorist attacks. Modern cameras harness advanced technology which has seen these cameras produce high-quality images. Additionally, there are modern cameras that are so small that they can be easily concealed. Contrast to the size, the minute cameras have high pixels allowing them to capture clear images and high-quality sound. Using these types of cameras can be of significant help in investigations focused on curbing terrorism (Popp 39).

Citizen involvement

While looking into how technology can be harnessed to curb and avert terrorist attacks. It is important to understand that the fight against these heinous activities is not to be left for the law enforcers alone. Terrorist activities have increased over the years which means efforts to curb terrorism must extend from the law enforcers to the citizens as well. This is important because much as technology might be incredibly effective in enabling law enforcement activities, it cannot operate on its own.

Methodology

The above research proposal will be carried out using the quantitative research technique. Specifically, surveys will be conducted to identify the areas in law enforcement where technology can be applied effectively. Additionally, interviews will be conducted to find out existing technology features currently harnessed in the law enforcement sector. This will allow the research to be focused on the areas that have minimal technology applications. Besides, the research will involve a questionnaire which will be used to find out other forms of technology that can be harnessed by law enforcement and how these technologies can help curb terrorist attacks.

Above research, approaches will be used due to the advantages attributed to them in comparison to other quantitative data collection. The survey, for instance, will be effective in getting a better understanding of the investigative process law enforcers go through and some of the technologies they apply. Interviews will help to gain an understanding of whether technologies currently in use have improved the investigative process or otherwise. Questionnaires, on the other hand, will allow for the collection of adequate data on areas that technology can be applied to law enforcement and the potential benefits that will be reaped.

Expected results

The results derived from this research will indicate various forms of technology the law enforcement can harness to curb terrorist attacks. Additionally, the results will shed light on the challenges faced by law enforcement in as far as the application of technology is concerned. Finally, the results of this research will indicate how the application of technology in law enforcement will enhance public security besides facilitating timely access to vital information.

Conclusion

Above discussed are just some form of technology that can be adopted by the law enforcement agencies to reinforce terrorism-fighting efforts. Technology keeps on changing, and the new technology is more often than not more advanced than the previous. Noteworthy is the fact that technology cannot fully replace the investigative work undertaken by the authorities. However, technology can be used to make these investigations more prompt and less expensive. The main ingredient to a reliable investigation is information. Social media and mobile technology can be a good source of information that can help narrow investigations to prone areas. Additionally, the use of crime mapping technology and surveillance can help increase public safety besides enabling the allocation of resources.

References

Onook, Manish Agrawal, and H. Raghav Rao. “Information control and terrorism: Tracking the Mumbai terrorist attack through twitter.” Information Systems Frontiers 13.1 (2011): 33-43.

Popp, Robert, Thomas Armour, and Kristen Numrych. “Countering terrorism through information technology.” Communications of the ACM 47.3 (2004): 36-43.

Spitzberg, Brian H., and Gregory Hoobler. “Cyberstalking and the technologies of interpersonal terrorism.” New media & society 4.1 (2002): 71-92.

Taylor, Robert W., Eric J. Fritsch, and John Liederbach. Digital crime and digital terrorism. Prentice Hall Press, 2014.