Essay on principles of information management in law enforcement

Introduction

The level of technology that humans in the Digital Era are able to manipulate has dramatically changed a lot of things, including the way how government and law enforcement offices do their jobs. One of the most significant leaps in the current law enforcement practice, thanks to technology, is the record-keeping and retrieval methods. Before, almost everything was done in a traditional environment wherein all types of records—can either be criminal or civil case records, or simple demographic records of convicts and ex-convicts, are written and edited using pen and paper, and are stored in large and secured storage cabinets. Now, the way how the abovementioned tasks are done can be a little bit different. A significant percentage of government and law enforcement offices are now keeping track of all records designated to their branch or department in a paperless environment.

Data Security

The security of the data inside a law enforcement firm-related database and server should always be secured at all costs and at all times. Usually, common security software, such as an antivirus software solution with only the features of a free version, will not be able to offer the optimal level of protection needed to consider all the files inside that travels to and fro the server secured (Wiles, 2012). Higher levels of security software solutions are essentials in ensuring that all types of records that are relevant to even just a single criminal or civil case are secured.

Data Accessibility

A common adverse effect of overprotecting an information management system by whatever means is the decrease in the accessibility of the data inside the system (Chu, 2006). The less secured a system is, the more accessible it can usually be and vice versa. The key here would be to make a balanced system that is not too secured and not too accessible. Sometimes, law enforcement agencies make use of encrypted web pages and serves with a highly complicated passcode to ensure that the files are secured or at some point, hidden from unauthorized people. Making a record-keeping and retrieval system accessible via the internet is where the “ accessible” part enters. This way, there can easily be balance. However, the authorized personnel should ensure that the passcodes will not be compromised.

Law Enforcement Data Management Plan

The term security usually encompasses aspects of data management such as recoverability in case the entire system got attacked by a malicious entity such as a virus, a computer worm or a Trojan. It is also possible for a machine or an entire information management system to be infected by a combination of malicious entity infections.
Secondly, an effective information management system should be able to provide access to all members of the law enforcement departments whose nature of work requires access to the documents that are most likely stored and encrypted in the information management system. A balanced information management system in terms of security and accessibility is an ideal and should therefore be the focus of the development team.

Other types and uses of Information management Systems

Most people think that law enforcement agencies can only use an information management system to store highly confidential information. In reality, all types of information, regardless whether they are confidential or totally not confidential can be stored in an information management system. For example, the law enforcement department concerned could store financial information such as the agency’s expenses for a particular period for references purposes in the future.
Information management systems that have something to do with financial figures are actually called financial information management systems and almost all types of organizations, for-profit and non-for-profit can use these types of information management systems (Fay, 2008). Law enforcement departments could therefore make use of these types of information management systems as well.

Training and Operations

It is fairly normal for members of any organization to encounter difficulties and resistance with regards to the use of the newly-introduced system. There are two very effective ways to address these types of problem:: By providing training sessions explaining to the members of the organization how to use the system, and by hosting seminar programs explaining to the organization members how using the new information management system could improve their work performance and make the information management-related tasks easier to execute.

Works Cited

Wiles, B. (2012). Records Compliance and Risk Management: Understanding Information Retrieval Systems, Types and Standards. New York: CRC Press.
Chu, S. (2006). Introducing Databases. Journal of Health Informatics: Transforming Healthcare with Technology. Thomson.
Fay, T. (2008). Financial Management Systems in Law Enforcement Departments. Journal of Law Enforcement and Criminology.