NORMAL, Ill. – Policing is evolving worldwide as policy shifts and technology advance at a rapid pace, and Bloomington-Normal is no exception. Ashley Farmer, an associate professor of criminal justice sciences, said local departments reflect broader national trends.
“We’ve seen the proliferation of things like body cameras, drones used in policing and now automated license plate readers,” Farmer said. “We’re seeing departments start to implement AI into license plate readers, but also into report writing with new systems that attach to body cameras.”
While many view body cameras and other emerging technologies as positive developments, Farmer said the impact is mixed. AI-assisted report writing, she said, can introduce errors if reports are not carefully reviewed. Research on body cameras has also shown they have little to no effect on reducing police violence.
“The idea behind implementing body cameras is, can we prevent misconduct or brutality from happening?” Farmer said. “The short answer to that is no. Body cameras didn’t prevent that. Perhaps that’s because officers become used to the cameras, and they know it’s not necessarily always going to be made public.”
Beyond technology, departments are also changing how they communicate with the public, particularly through social media. In Bloomington, that includes a Community Engagement Unit, a model that has become more common in recent years.
“We’re seeing that happen in departments where it seems as if they do want to have better engagement with the community that is not crime-based,” Farmer said. “If people are able to get to know the police and talk to them outside of a crime, either as a perpetrator, a victim or a witness, then they will know the police are someone they can go to.”
On campus, the Illinois State University Police Department uses multiple platforms to communicate with students. Early Saturday morning, shots were fired at 709 S. Main St. in Normal, prompting an immediate alert advising students to avoid the area. The department also provided updates on its Facebook page.
Social media allows departments to communicate directly with the community but can also create challenges for individual officers. Farmer pointed to past incidents in which officers faced discipline for their online activity.
“There are instances of police officers getting in trouble for things they’ve posted,” Farmer said. “Some years ago, there was a huge issue out of Philadelphia where you had something like 13 officers disciplined because they were part of Facebook groups that were posting racist, inciting violence-type content about the community.”
As policing continues to evolve nationally and locally, Farmer said departments will likely face ongoing questions about how technology and communication strategies shape public trust and accountability.
