Accessing problems in predictive policing in the US

Abstract

Predictive policing technologies have recently caught the attention of the wider public after Santa Cruz became the first country in the US to shut down facial recognition technologies and heatmap predictive technologies. In this essay, I argue that we should adopt three principles that can help us ethically modify and adjust current and future predictive policing technology. We explore the main benefits of adopting such technology, being that it deters future crime and increases our crime detection capabilities. On the flip side, we also explore how dirty data input, biased generated reports and the prevalence of false positives weakens current technological effectiveness. Lastly, I argue that objectivity, transparency, and accountability can help to mitigate some of the issues present in current technology.