The facts: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Florida-Department-of-bw-1587995596.html?x=0&.v=1
Commentary: Crime Prediction Software Is Here and It's a Very Bad Idea
The quote is from the 2nd article. The 1st article doesn’t make it seem that bad but as with ideas like DNA collection upon arrest even with no conviction, this too seems ripe for abuse. I’m not a great debater. I prefer to sit back and watch the fur fly. So what are your thoughts dopers?
The devil is in the details.
On one level, this is not much different than identifying people at high risk of a particular disease. The real question is what is done with that information. If someone is at risk of heart disease (for example) and that information is used to restrict their lives and exclude them from things, including things such as adequate health coverage, that is bad. If, however, the information is used to reduce their risk factors and mitigate and problems that arise by identifying and treating them early so they can enjoy maximum health and life span that is good.’
If predictive techniques are used to identify people likely to commit crimes in the future and that information is used to restrict those people that could very well become a bad and injust thing. However, if that information is truly used to help people - perhaps by giving appropriate counseling to abused children based on thei abuse and their symptoms, or by giving educational assistance to someone from an impoverished background where there is no encouragement for learning, or treating mental illness early, then it could be a good thing that enables young offenders to truly turn their life around and lead rewarding, non-criminal lives.
Given past history in the US, though, I’m more worried about an abuse of such techniques than hopeful it will really be used in a positive manner.
The author of the 2nd article really didn’t seem too persuasive. Towards the end when he used holocaust as an example of what could go wrong, it just got absurd.
The justice system is imperfect. I have heard (no idea if it is true) that about 7% of people are innocent (no idea how they got that figure) of the crimes they are convicted of. But nobody says lets abolish the justice department. It is always an attempt to improve it. More appeals, more evidence, better forensics, better interrogations, etc.
All that program is doing is finding those at highest risk of reoffending, and putting them in programs to help them not reoffend. I assume those are job programs, social skill programs, counseling, self control programs, group therapy, etc.
When Cory Booker took over as mayor of Newark NJ he installed advanced technology to catch and prevent crimes. Cameras in high risk areas that can be accessed from various ports. And it worked.
http://www.corybooker.com/content/media/1-latest-headlines/35-preventing-crime.html
http://www.govtech.com/gt/658038
So I really don’t see anything wrong with it, esp since the info is just used to provide better interventions to prevent juveniles from reoffending.
I’d like to say I’m in favor of this, but it’s Florida, & I expect it will in practice be unequally applied according to who one’s parents were.