Share

No: New Technologies Won't Change Behavior

By Peter K. Manning

Information technology is shaped by the organization that uses it. It is also shaped by the practices of the people who use it in their work. New kinds of information technology, or ways of processing work-related information, are thought to make work routines more efficient. In police work—just as in the work of doctors, lawyers and engineers—there is a persistent wish to cut through the complexity and get to the “heart of the problem” with a practical solution.

I would call it the “silver bullet fantasy.” The arguments for police body cameras fall into that category.

Police...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

Related

Explore