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EQUIPPING THE OFFICER A law enforcement odyssey Police innovators say modern policing reflects both sociological and technological trends coming of age By Carole Moore A s times change, so do approaches to policing. Since the days of handheld radios the size of bricks, handwritten reports and bulging metal file cabinets housing manila case file folders, modern law enforcement has gone digital, biometric and analytical. This isn't your daddy's policing anymore. And these changes are good things, say people like Dale Peet, a former head of the Michigan State Police Intelligence Center and present-day industry consultant for SAS Institute. Peet says he foresees rapid changes in the intrinsic 18 Law Enforcement Technology investigatory process used by law enforcement agencies. Here are three trends he believes will have some of the strongest impact on how police work cases: Social media analytics (SMA) and sentiment analysis tools. Peet says these tools will become increasingly important in canvassing Twitter, Facebook and other social network feeds as an early-warning system for threats on officials, and other potential trouble spots or issues. "Look for automation of the technologies," predicts Peet, who adds that, "as...massive amounts of data are June 2013 www.officer.com analyzed, the system is sending alerts to analysts when certain thresholds or business rules are met." Confidential informant protocols. It's not unusual for operations run by multiple agencies involving confidential informants to not be on the same page. Peet says a future remedy will be developing "tools that provide capabilities that automate multi-jurisdictional de-confliction of informants. Such tools will give law enforcement greater latitude in their use of, and better management options for, confidential informants while reduc-