Building trust between citizens and their governments

Abstract

Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) constantly seek new technological recording, retrieving and monitoring solutions that would facilitate their combat against organized crime. For example, GPS sensors and systems benefit LEAs when tracking non-cooperative targets. However, the management of numerous electronic tracking devices within many simultaneous crime investigations has proven to be a demanding task for LEAs. Complications have spawned many lawsuits and negative publicity. These episodes have diminished citizens' trust in a constitutional state. It has been verified by means of participative observations that LEAs have a tendency to create two-level systems: some that work on the streets and others that are valid in the courts of justice, which create tensions between authorities. The importance of transparency is emphasized at all EU administrative levels. However, LEAs concentrate only on data acquisition rather than on making their operations transparent throughout. To protect the privacy of suspects, investigations and data acquisition cannot be made public. However, these operations could be so transparent that they enable criticism and control by citizens. To improve the processes of LEAs, the three main functions (crime investigation, chain-of-custody and monitoring-of-legality) should be considered together. Combining their now separate information systems will avoid the triple workload. It will also lead to additional benefits, such as transparency of surveillance and a new tool for achieving a balance between surveillance and privacy. The guidelines for this combining cannot be drawn from criminal justice and organizational imperatives alone, but from ever advancing technical imperative, too.