use of science and technology in the police force

• in 1901 Fingerprint Branch was set up. The National Fingerprints System kept a record of fingerprints from everyone arrested
• in 1909 police bicycles were introduced to allow officers to pursue criminals more quickly
• by the 1930s police cars became quite common and the 999 telephone number was introduced
• CCTV was first used in 1960
• Breathalysers were introduced in 1967 to test drivers' blood alcohol levels
• in 1980 the Police National Computer was launched which held the records of 25 million people
• in 1988 the first murder convictions were gained using DNA samples and this was an example of the growing importance in forensic science
• speed cameras were introduced in 1992
• in 1995 the National Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) and National DNA Database were set up to share information. This is an example of data management
• More recent developments include mass video surveillance and biometric screening