PUBLISHER'S NOTE: ""It's good to see that 'predictive policing' is finally getting close scrutiny by civil rights, privacy and technology groups - and that some informed skepticism is countering the lustrous aura - created by the massive industry behind the latest police toy. HL).
COMMENTARY: "Sounding the alarm on predictive policing," by Amy Kroin, published by Free Press, on September 8, 2016.
GIST: 'While
the idea of using data to direct police resources sounds like an effort
to remove human bias from the equation, that isn’t how it works in
practice. In fact, predictive policing embeds police bias in an
algorithm that then has the appearance of being neutral.' (Photo: Tony
Webster/flickr) “Predictive policing” sounds good on paper. After all, what could go wrong with a data-based approach to law enforcement? It turns out: plenty. That’s why Free Press joined a broad coalition of civil rights, privacy and technology groups in sounding the alarm about how predictive policing reinforces racial bias. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights mobilized the
coalition, which counts the ACLU, the Brennan Center for Justice, Color
Of Change and the NAACP among the 17 signers. The statement
released last Wednesday notes that “the data driving predictive
enforcement activities — such as the location and timing of previously
reported crimes, or patterns of community- and officer-initiated 911
calls — is profoundly limited and biased.” Indeed, a damning report
from the tech consulting group Upturn, which surveyed the nation’s 50
largest police forces, confirms this view. Upturn found “little
evidence” that predictive policing works — and “significant reason to
fear that [it] may reinforce disproportionate and discriminatory
policing practices.” Nearly all of the predictive-policing systems in use in the United
States come from private vendors. The systems draw on existing crime
data to forecast where future crimes might occur. The idea is that this
knowledge will help police departments determine where to focus their
law-enforcement activities. While the idea of using data to direct police resources sounds like
an effort to remove human bias from the equation, that isn’t how it
works in practice. In fact, predictive policing embeds police bias in an
algorithm that then has the appearance of being neutral. The Upturn report explains that “criminologists have long emphasized
that crime reports, and other statistics gathered by the police, are not
an accurate record of all the crime that occurs in a community;
instead, they are partly a record of law enforcement’s responses to what happens in a community” [emphasis added]. This is a critical point: The police response to low-income
communities — in particular communities of color — is completely
different from the response to wealthy white communities......... As my colleague Sandra Fulton observed in a recent post on surveillance of communities of color,
police often “race to adopt new technologies without considering the
potential harms or consulting with the communities they serve.”
Predictive policing is yet another example of this dangerous trend. And
people’s lives are on the line."
The entire commentary can be found at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/09/08/sounding-alarm-predictive-policing
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmithInformation on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy. Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
