Virtual Searches: Regulating the Covert World of Technological Policing

Innovations in policing and the law have enabled police to carry out work without leaving the office or squad car, but Virtual Searches provides a framework for regulating their use that expands the Fourth Amendments privacy protections without blindly imposing its warrant requirement.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 27 September 2022
Publisher: New York University Press

A thorough examination of the advancements in law enforcement and the legal frameworks that should govern them is presented in the following text. A wide range of technologies, including digital cameras, drones, facial recognition devices, night-vision binoculars, automated license plate readers, GPS, geofencing, DNA matching, data mining, and artificial intelligence, have enabled police to perform a significant portion of their duties without leaving the office or squad car. These technologies do not readily align with the traditional physical search and seizure model envisioned by the framers of the Constitution.

Virtual Searches offers a valuable typology for navigating this diverse array of policing techniques, both established and emerging. It then presents a framework for regulating their use that expands the privacy protections provided by the Fourth Amendment without blindly imposing its warrant requirement. This regulatory approach prioritizes democratic policymaking over judicial decision-making.

The coherent regulatory regime developed in Virtual Searches ensures that police are held accountable for their use of technology without denying them the increased efficiency it offers in their efforts to protect the public. Whether police agencies are pursuing an identified suspect, constructing profiles of likely perpetrators, attempting to find matches with crime scene evidence, collecting data to assist with these tasks, or utilizing private companies to do so, Virtual Searches provides a template for ensuring their actions are constitutionally legitimate and responsive to the broader polity.

In conclusion, the advancements in law enforcement and the legal frameworks that should govern them are complex and multifaceted. Virtual Searches provides a valuable framework for navigating this landscape, balancing the need for privacy protection, technological efficiency, and democratic policymaking. By adopting this approach, police agencies can ensure that their use of technology is constitutionally legitimate, effective, and responsive to the needs of the public.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479812165