Courses / Module

This module aims to have students think critically about the role of technology in all aspects of crime and the criminal justice system. It will introduce students to the latest innovations in the adoption and use of technology in the criminal justice system. Topics will shift from examining new technology used to commit crimes to new technologies adopted for crime control strategies. There will be a focus on both the “hard” (e.g., devices, equipment, hardware, etc.) and “soft” (e.g., classification devices, computer software programs, information systems, etc.). This will include an examination of the growing reliance on technologies in the pursuit of justice and public safety, as well as the implications for groups who are subjected to them. Central topics covered include: theoretical understandings of technology and criminology, the advent of new technologies and related police investigative (such as the use of body worn cameras, drones, and biometric data collection and analysis) and restraint technologies (from electronic monitoring to tasers), cybercrimes, security and surveillance, and the use of technologies in prisons and community corrections.

* Week 1: An Intro to Criminal Justice and Technology. *Week 2: Biotechnology and crime. *Week 3: Technology and policing: Tasers. *Week 4: Cybercrime: an introduction. *Week 5: Technology and policing: DNA and forensic identification. *Week 6: Cybercrime: child exploitation. *Week 7: Community corrections: Electronic monitoring and GPS tracking. *Week 8: Cybercrime: cyberbullying.* Week 9: Mobile technologies: body-worn cameras. *Week 10: Mobile technologies: drones and stingrays. *Week 11: Prisons and technology: restraint and search devices. *Week 12: Prisons and technology: the internet and telemedicine.