Police Agencies Using Software To Generate "Threat Scores" of Suspects (washingtonpost.com)

Koreantoast writes: It's no secret that governments across the globe have been taking advantage of new technologies to create stronger surveillance systems on citizens. While many have focused on the actions of intelligence agencies, local police departments continue to create more sophisticated systems as well. A recent article highlights one new system deployed by the Fresno, California police department, Intrado's Beware. The system scours police data, public records, social media, and public Internet data to provide a "threat level" of a potential suspect or residency. The software is part of a broader trend of military counterinsurgency tools and algorithms being repurposed for civil use. While these tools can help police manage actively dangerous situations, providing valuable intel when responding to calls, the analysis also raises serious civil liberties questions both in privacy (where the data comes from) and accuracy (is the data valid, was the analysis done correctly). Also worrying are the long term ramifications to such technologies: there has already been some speculation about "citizen scores," could a criminal threat score be something similar? At very least, as Matt Cagle of the ACLU noted, "there needs to be a meaningful debate... there needs to be safeguards and oversight."

Comments

Welcome to Precrime!

[Chas]

Please, step into your designated cell. Your imprisonment for things you might do will begin in a second you potentially violent scumbag!

*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG*

Sorry! We determined you were too much of a risk to our safety. You have been eliminated. Good bye!

Re:As long as it's fair...

[DaHat]

I was unaware that carrying a suitcase full of cash was usually illegal... the same cannot be said for a suitcase full of crack.

Simple app

[PPH]

SELECT Name, Address FROM Public WHERE Race = 'Black';

Threat Scoring?

[Irate Engineer]

Isn't this a euphemism for profiling? We're just automating stereotypes.

Threat Score (sum of all that apply):

Dark Skin +100

Speaks language other than English or Arabic + 500

Speaks Arabic +1000

Wears funny hat or turban +700

Likes big screen TVs +100

etc...