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Fighting Street Gangs With Military Counter-Insurgency Software

Posted by Soulskill on from the one-of-the-tracking-hydra's-new-heads dept.

An anonymous reader writes "After every major war, technology developed for a conflict gets applied to civilian life. The BBC recently reported that Army researchers have adapted advanced social network analysis software used for counter-insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan to help law enforcement analyze the behavior of street gangs. With the growing problem of gang violence in major U.S. cities, this may provide a fresh perspective. 'Orca can figure out the likely affiliations of individuals who will not admit to being members of any specific gang, as well as the sub-structure of gangs – the gang ecosystem – and the identities of those who tend to dictate the behaviour of others. ... Having some knowledge of the links and affiliations between different gangs can highlight dangers that call for more focused policing. If a gang perpetrates some violent action on a rival gang, police will often monitor the rival gang more closely because of the likelihood of retaliation. But gangs know this, and so the rivals might instead ask an allied gang to carry out a reprisal. Understanding such alliances helps the police stay a step ahead.' The question is: will it work?"

2 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Or we could just... by Nutria · · Score: -1, Troll

    give them jobs

    Give them???? How many trillions of dollars have been transfered from the workers to the non-workers, and how effective has it actually been?

    Besides, why work mowing grass and digging ditches (what else are they qualified for, given their piss poor grades in their piss poor schools) when (a) that's "Mexican work", and (b) you can make more by selling drugs and living off the dole?

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
  2. Re:it could be stopped by rubycodez · · Score: -1, Troll

    gangsers really are terrorists, much as the government abuses the word. executing gangbanger dirtbags can be done with minimal cost, a round of .22 LR can be had for less than 3 cents in bulk, and a single judge with volunteer jury can sentence thousands of the scum in an efficiently run court.

    Unfair to parents? spawning criminal scum and letting them run wild is not parenting..