http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=558597&in_page_id=1770 Any thoughts?
Bloody good idea if you ask me. I think in the kind of job that police officers find themselves this will prove beneficial, both for safety and allocation of resources. Off course I don't know if I would like it if it were me.
I think this is the kind of story that is very difficult to comment on at such an early stage, and I am rather sceptical of the slant considering it comes from the Daily Mail.
True about it being early, but on the upside if you ever watch a cop show on TV it always takes so long for the officer to relay their position to control room and then those people relay it to others, this cuts out one level making it easier. Also cutting response time by knowing who is closest etc. I support the idea, but already think we don't have enough officers just on 'the beat' as it where. If people knew the local officers then they would get the right idea about the cops and help stop crime as a community.
Has a lot of potential. A lot of the medics I know in big cities have a similar system on their portable radios. If they get in trouble they hit the big red button on the radio and it sends a distress signal with a location. Most of the people I know who have that system have had to use it more than once.
It's the future of policing. Read "Halting State" by Charles Stross to get a glimpse of where it will be going.
Sounds like the Met are doing just about the poorest job possible of selling this to their officers and public in general. No surprises with that incompetant **** in charge. Really though, think about it. Ignore all the "chipped" and the "big brother" talk. Simply describing this as a GPS-like system which allows fellow officers to pinpoint and help officers who need backup or who've been wounded makes it sound a bazillion times better. If it works, it'll be very interesting, because every 1st world military has been working on systems like this for the last 5-20 years and none have actually managed to roll-out the systems on any scale yet. On it's own, this system is neither negative nor hugely positive. It all depends on implementation and use, and if implemented or even just used well it could save lives, increase arrests of criminals, and increase efficiency. Course I don't think it's going to be successful any time soon since if militaries that get a 2-4% of a nations GDP can't achieve individual tracking systems, I doubt the Met can. And Nexxo, care to explain what that book says we're all headed for? I'm loathed to add yet another book to my pile of "to read"
Nothing Big Brother, actually. The book describes how officers have glasses with heads-up displays superimposing relevant information on what they see. You look at a house, you may see a sign hovering over it stating that a suspect or offender lives there. You look at a car, you see outstanding speeding tickets. Locations may have markers about recent crimes committed there. People with track records may have that info hovering over their heads as you see them walking down the street (inc. whether they are banned from that area, or should actually be at their parole office right now). You can call up maps indicating bobbies on the beat, patrol cars and what incidents they may be responding to. There is a bulletin with relevant news and info and e-mails. It also functions as a desktop allowing you to browse, write and file reports and respond to e-mails. Police officers also wear their mobile strapped to their shoulder: this is tied into the HUD glasses and has GPS (of course), a camera and microphone and is constantly recording and streaming up to HQ. This allows play-back of the last known movements of a missing officer, but also is handy for statement taking and report writing (reports may include relevant video clips of the event). The only problem is that you have to mind your language. This is sort of mentioned in passing as backdrop against which the story happens (a virtual robbery of a virtual bank in an MMORPG, which nevertheless involves real financial losses and somehow ends up involving real murders). It's a good read.
