Technology
Predictive Policing Algorithms and Civil Liberties
Quick fact
A 2016 RAND Corporation study found that predictive policing can reduce crime by up to 15% in certain contexts, but it also showed that the models are highly sensitive to the data they're trained on, and biased data can produce biased predictions that reinforce discriminatory policing patterns.
Why this is interesting
What if a computer could tell the police exactly where a crime would happen next? This is not science fiction—it's happening in cities around the world, but it comes with hidden costs to our freedoms.