Europe: A New Police Terrain (2) Informatization: Police, Technology and Data Protection

Abstract

Information throughout the Western world has come to be seen as a resource, and the tool which has facilitated this is the computer. Computerized communication, information storage and exchange have come to be seen as being at the heart of counter-measures against the ‘security deficit’ in the new Europe. Although usually presented in the context of a resource-led measure to increase efficiency and deal with increased crime levels, it is clear that police computerization and the collection, storage and use of personal information has its own, separate trajectory. Our view is that understanding the shape of this ‘informatization’ of police work can aid in predicting the emergent key practice of policing the new Europe.