DUMB COP OF THE WEEK: TEENAGE CRIMINALS SHOULD BE FITTED WITH WI-FI JAMMERS
by Hazed
A senior policeman in the UK has come up with a really dumb idea to punish teenagers who are convicted of computer-based crimes. He says they should be fitted with ankle-mounted Wi-Fi jammers.
Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas, who is the president of the senior cop trade union The Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA), told the Daily Telegraph, “If you have got a 16-year-old who has hacked into your account and stolen your identity, this is a 21st century crime, so we ought to have a 21st century methodology to address it.”
He continued: “This could be introduced as part of community sentencing, so that the 16-year-old does not have access to the internet or Wi-Fi for a period and then in conjunction they have to do some sort of traditional work in the community.”
He said this could be by having “electronic jammers” fitted in the same way that ankle tags are fitted to some criminals released early from prison.
This is a stupid idea. It’s completely impractical, it’s an extremely blunt force way of dealing with a nuanced problem, and it just opens up the opportunity for more mischief: given that I don’t think there’s a way for the jammer to affect any devices the teen is holding but not those belonging to people standing next to him, the teenager would create Wi-Fi not-spots wherever he goes.
It’s another example of a police officer who is used to dealing with physical criminals such as burglars and robbers, and hasn’t really understood how the digital world works.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01/09/wifi_jammers_teen_tech_criminals_mad_idea/
