Looking at this famous photograph from the Boston Marathon Manhunt, one can see several key trends into the future of law enforcement and domestic intelligence. Here's what I see...in no particular order:
-The notion of just how much power should the government have. This Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) device can peer into our homes and see human activity. In exigent circumstances, chasing a public danger on the run, I think there is more public support for this extrasensory technology. But for mere patrol work, or data collection, we're not there yet. That goes for peering into homes and tracking our movements. This poll taken two weeks after the attacks shows strong support for civil liberties.
-How much power should state and local government have? There is a State Police logo watermarked on this photograph. With states and localities having the power that comes with this technology, there will be differences in how it is applied. If the differences become too great, that leads to different levels of civil liberties across jurisdictions, something anathema to the 14th Amendment. Furthermore, FLIR technology is commercially available. We have to have standards of what corporate security, paparazzi, and others will do to fellow citizens and businesses.
-Privacy. This word, unmentioned in the Constitution, is an idea so near and dear to us. Our frames of privacy are shifting, and the application of the law must adjust continually. The FLIR, and all of the cell phone footage of the week's events, symbolize that we can always be traced ,even in our own homes.
-Big Data. If you look carefully at the bottom, there are lots of numbers. Here its things like latitude and longitude. However it is data, it's being stored, and it's in the context of the subject in the photograph. We are not only subject to being watched, we are constantly studied. We hope both public and private entities with this information are judicious with it. The further issue is when public entities hire private entities to do functions that may seem inherently governmental. A law enforcement agency might be augmented with contractors whose purpose is to statistically analyze data and present it to a governmental decision-maker. The contractor, who probably has more quantitative sophistication, has a lot of influence with the decision maker. This photo represents a threat to our old notion of privacy.
-Is this too much efficiency? We all complain about government bureaucracies like the DMV. However, there is sometimes a reason for process. It prevents mistakes, allows for more transparency, and more say in the process. With technology, government will be tempted to take shortcuts in things like interviewing witnesses and seeing as many angles to a story as possible.
Seeing clues that are not really there is a potential when machines replace the human element.
Please share your inkblot reactions.
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