New Laws have Changed Criminal Investigators Over Time - Assignment Example

These new laws have in many ways improved conviction rates of those that are guilty while at the same time ensuring that those that those that are innocent are not unfairly charged. These laws have gone a long way in equipping law enforcement agencies and their officers with invaluable tools in their work. Introduction Just like any facet of life, criminal activities have also improved over the years, with many more of them utilizing the latest technologies and tools in the commission of crime.

This has meant that the investigators of crime have also had to change their tack and keep up with the advances in the nature and types of criminal activities that offenders of the twenty first century engage in. Many advances have been made especially in the areas of investigation of terrorist activities as well as investigation of scenes of crime using DNA and other types of technologies not only to catch criminals but also to prevent those planning to commit crime from being successful while at the same time exonerating those who may be arrested using inaccurate, incomplete or illegal evidence. 1. The development of new laws has significantly changed the responsibilities and working of the criminal investigator over the past few years. . he most significant change that the new laws have brought is the fact that the forensic field has now become a more scientific, more accountable and increasingly more accurate ensuring that the perpetrators or crime – and more specifically – the correct perpetrators of crime are presented in court and, even more importantly, significantly reducing the numbers of those brought to court unfairly due to insufficient evidence (American Civil Liberties Union, 2011).

New laws have been made giving the law enforcement agencies more and more powers in the collection of electronic communication data such as mobile phone records, internet usage, instant messaging, making the collection of gathering evidence that would stand up in a court of law and ensure conviction of those charged with different crimes. A lot of these laws, such as those contained in the rather wordyUniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (more easily known as the Patriot Act) have made it easier for investigators to not only collect a lot of data on crimes committed but to, even more importantly, collect evidence that enables the them to prevent potential crimes from being committed (American Civil Liberties Union, 2011).

Another set of laws that has also significantly changed the way criminal investigation takes place is the set of laws governing the collection, storage and analysis of DNA evidence. 2. DNA analysis has been hailed as the most significant criminal investigation development since the then revolutionary development of fingerprint technology. The use of DNA data and information has had a game changing impact on criminal investigation the world over and nowhere has this been more evident than in the United