SMART CITY OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

Santrauka

The popular concept of smart cities corresponds to the advancement of information and communication technology. This new platform enables profound interaction between government and private sector and affects law enforcement as well, especially as operational, quick and efficient source of data. This paper presents key opportunities and major risks within the area of the smart city concept and explores the challenges related to data collection, crime prevention, IoT deployment and cooperation between authorities and public. In addition, there is also discussed the European point of view, specifically regarding to the new Europol mandate. As the EU agency for law enforcement cooperation will be entitled to process large and complex datasets and to develop new technologies, there is a need to assess new legal possibilities in the term of security and further technical development. The whole network of connected devices and interaction between authorities, law enforcement and public may improve the efficiency of fighting crime and enhance possibilities to prevent and investigate crime. The main areas touched by smart city concept from the law enforcement point of view may be categorised as infrastructure, investigation and cooperation. The interconnected smart city system may be used in (predictive) policing, surveillance, crowd control, or public sentiment monitoring. Police departments can become more effective by saving staff hours and costs which means better use of police capacities and capabilities and law
enforcement may engage in community discussions to collaboratively identify what are the top crime issues that should be addressed. The concept of smart city may be considered as one of the solution for problems related to physical and virtual criminality and may increase opportunities for law enforcement. On the other hand, the main associated risks include privacy concerns, increased occurence of new crimes targeting smart city systems with potentially higher impact, possibly slower regulation done by legislators, risks related to private parties involved in smart city policing or insufficient education of public leading to citizens' distrust.