« Pre-crime software recruited to track gang of thieves »

« In France, meanwhile, a system provided by Sûreté Globale has enjoyed success for several years targeting a variety of crimes, not just burglaries. Spokesman Sébastien Delestre says that police in Paris tested the approach to crack down on joyriding on New Year’s Eve five years ago. They arrested twice as many people as the year before, he says. The software is now being used in Lyon, Lille and several smaller towns.

Sending police to areas where crime hasn’t yet occurred may sound intrusive, and raises the spectre of a police force following conclusions based on data that could keep pointing them to poor or minority communities. But it might be an improvement compared with recent high- profile cases of police bias, such as that reported last week after an investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, last year. Predictive policing may be better both for law enforcement officers and the citizens they are charged with protecting. »

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530123-600-pre-crime-software-recruited-to-track-gang-of-thieves/