Lapd Computer Targets Rogue Cops
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has turned to technology to help identify troublesome officers. A $35 million computer system helps the department monitor complaints and other details about officers and notifies managers of potential instances of inappropriate behavior.
The system is the main component of a federal oversight program ordered by the U.S. Justice Department in the wake of abuse charges in the 1990s. The system was created by Sierra Systems Group and Bearing Point and can extract things such as complaints, lawsuits, use of force, and other records from databases. The goal of the system is to identify patterns that might go undetected by humans.
In the past, most of the data was in paper form and spread across various departments, making it problematic to develop profiles of officers and identify possible problems. Now, anyone whose behavior differs significantly from their colleagues gets tagged, and a supervisor reexamines the data. They might order officers to get additional training or counseling, or recommend firing after completing follow-up investigations.
The police departments of New Orleans and Miami-Dade County have also implemented such tracking systems and have experienced a reduction in citizen complaints and use of force reports, respectively, according to a 2001 Justice Department study.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Associated Press (07/23/05) .
