Harnessing new technology to keep ahead of the criminal is the key to effective 21st century crime-fighting, Home Secretary, David Blunkett, will tell the Police Foundation tonight. The most serious and widespread organised crime requires the police, Government and security services to be making the most effective use of technology long before the criminals are.
Mr Blunkett will outline the three key challenges facing law enforcement agencies – to exploit existing technology to the full; to identify emerging threats as well as new opportunities; and to be prepared for the next step-change in criminal behaviour and terrorist activity.
Speaking ahead of the conference, Mr Blunkett said:
"We live in an increasingly technologically sophisticated age. Organised criminals are using high-tech means to evade the law and commit serious crimes such as drug running, people trafficking, fraud and terrorism. And at a local level, criminals are using new technology to commit the same old crimes in new ways.
"Developments in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and the widespread use of computers all pose law enforcement threats and opportunities. We cannot reverse technological advances, and nor should we. Too often in the past, governments have waited and reacted to new technology. We are identifying the future challenges to get ahead of the game, tackling high-tech crime and credit card fraud, for example, with special units to stay ahead of the criminals.
"Law enforcement agencies must not just respond to these developments, however. To keep one step ahead of the criminal they need to embrace new technology and make the best use of existing technologies.
"We have already made huge advances in harnessing technology to cut crime. The challenge is to use these developments increasingly effectively and strategically so as to stay ahead of emerging threats.
"Technology also has the capacity to deliver more bobbies on the beat, to increase detections, and to solve old crimes. If we exploit the new opportunities, we can put technological advances to good use in the fight against crime and terrorism."
A range of technological equipment is being developed and used by police to increase security for individuals and communities, from progress with less-lethal technologies to improvements in body armour for the police. Technology is also being used to cut red tape for police officers. New radios, hand held computers, mobiles and laptops cut back on bureaucracy, allowing officers to spend more time on patrol and less time returning to the station to fill in forms.
Key technological developments which are now vital tools in the fight against crime are the national fingerprint and DNA databases – with DNA profiles on the database about to hit the two million mark. These tools are helping police identify the criminals, make earlier arrests and get more secure convictions. They are also playing an important role in solving old crimes.
Mr Blunkett said:
"The DNA and fingerprint databases have become vital weapons in law enforcement, making our communities safer by helping to put thousands of repeat criminals behind bars.
"Every week our national DNA database matches over 1,000 DNA profiles taken from crime scenes with names on the database. Around 42 per cent of those matches are turned into detections within an average of 14 days. That is a huge achievement, particularly as we are about to load the two millionth DNA profile onto the database.
"Around five and a half million sets of fingerprints are contained in the national fingerprint database. With new technology, fingerprints can be taken electronically - from a person, in the case of Livescan, or from objects, in the case of IRIS - and checked against the database in a matter of minutes.
"New powers in the Criminal Justice Bill will allow officers to take DNA and fingerprint samples at the point of arrest rather than the point of charge. This sends the strong message that the victims of crime are being put first, and that those who commit crime will be caught, convicted and punished."
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Home Secretary is speaking to the Police Foundation’s John Harris Memorial Lecture at 6pm. The Lecture will take place in Drapers Company Hall, Throgmorton Street, EC2N 2DQ.
IRIS is the Integrated Rapid Imaging System, a fingerprint workstation which enables an efficient method of recording developed fingerprints by rapidly capturing fingerprints from objects electronically and which then sends them directly to the police force database (NAFIS) for a match.
The National High Tech Crime Unit was established in 2001 as the UK’s first proactive multi-agency law enforcement agency to tackle new and emerging threats.
The Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Card Unit was set up jointly by the Home Office and the Association for Payment Clearing Services in April 2002. In its first year it recovered more than 4000 cards and 525 cheques.
In the financial year 1998/99 there were 21,329 DNA matches and 6,151 detections. In, 2000/01 there were 30,894 matches and 14,783 detections with DNA, whereas in 2002/03 these figures rose to 49,913 and 21,098 respectively - i.e. around a 50% increase in detections in two years.
24% of all crimes are detected but 38% of crimes are detected where DNA has been loaded to the database. 14% of all burglaries are detected but 48% of burglaries are detected where DNA has been loaded to the database. Note: A 'match' means that material bearing DNA is found at the scene of a crime, a profile of that DNA is loaded to the National DNA Database, and it matches a profile of DNA taken from an individual. Not all matches result in detections for a number of reasons - the DNA found at the scene may have come from someone who can be eliminated as a suspect; a suspect may claim they had legitimate reason to be at the scene and further evidence needed to prove or disprove this cannot be found; a suspect is identified but cannot be located etc.
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