1-12-16 National:Can machines predict where crimes occur before human beings do? Will the technology be used in unbiased ways? How will these devices affect privacy?
As concerns grow over what are called predictive-policing methods and their effect on Americans, one thing is clear: these new crime-fighting tools are not only being implemented around the country; they are increasing in sophistication and scope.
Technology such as PredPol, which runs crime reports through an algorithm to discover locations with a high probability of crime, have already been adopted by police departments in Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Santa Cruz.
The Chicago Police Department in 2013 created a "heat list" which logged 400 people through an algorithm thought to expose future criminals. Its effectiveness and accuracy remain unclear.
In New Orleans, a company called Palantir applied technology to identify approximately one percent of the city population who will be likely to inflict or be victims of gun violence.
The use of such crime-fighting tools has sparked debate among academics, legal experts and privacy advocates.
Law professor Andrew Ferguson of the University of the District of Columbia told a symposium at the Association of American Law Schools annual convention in New York on Friday (January 8) that predictive policing devices can "distort the law" regarding the Fourth Amendment prohibition of illegal search and seizures.
”This [technology] is less about predictions and more about risk,” he said. “It's more about identifying vulnerabilities in a community as opposed to being able to actually predict a particular crime."
