Through big data, experts can predict human behaviour more and more precisely. The police also increasingly embrace the use of big data and the linking of systems to improve detecting crimes and law enforcement. Even though this helps prevent criminality, there are concerns about the negative consequences of embedded bugs in these systems. Marc Schuilenburg, Professor of Digital Surveillance at Erasmus School of Law, explains the use of big data by the police in conversation with BNR News in the podcast Eyeopeners.
The police use big data for predictive policing, which predicts where crime will occur. However, the police also use big datasets to improve other police activities. In the field, the police use linked police systems that police officers can access through their mobile phones to check someone’s criminal records or check whether someone is armed and dangerous. The detective department increasingly uses text mining and deep learning tools to process massive datasets from phones and laptops. The Intelligence department of the police develops the tools that contribute to investigations, enforcement and police assistance.
Operating as one entity
Schuilenburg explains that this development brings numerous benefits for the police: “With this data, the police can operate as one entity. That is a benefit we should not underestimate because the police consist of many different units, like field officers, detectives, investigation and intelligence.” In addition, the police can learn faster, mentions Schuilenburg: “the police force can learn and act faster by processing large volumes of data through algorithms. Fast learning is possible when detecting certain trends, the police can do risk analyses more quickly, and they can also deploy its’ capacity more efficiently.”
Vicious circle
A well-known negative effect of big data systems is prejudice and self-fulfilling prophecies. This risk is the largest in predictive policing. If a system predicts where crime will take place, the risk emerges that the police will only check the places where most of the police reports and complaints come from, which would create a vicious circle. Moreover, when predictive policing predicts which people are likely to commit a crime, the risk is even more significant. Schuilenburg: “When you start predicting who is going to commit a crime in the near future, it is no longer about certain actions, but more about criminalising the mind of a person. (…) When that happens, the risk is that the police increasingly take the seat of the psychiatrist because they want to deduct in an earlier and earlier phase what chance there is that a person is going to commit a crime under certain circumstances.”
The use of big data by the police is a risk. BNR-host Meindert Schut finds it “really scary”, but Schuilenburg is more down-to-earth: “We should not forget why big data applications are more and more applied. This in line with a longer trend of digitalising the police job. They are increasingly applied because politicians and society are more and more focused on precaution. We no longer accept that something bad could happen to one of us. Through this precaution mindset, we try to act in an earlier phase. This is a logical consequence. I do not want to justify this.”
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Click here for the entire episode of Eyeopeners (in Dutch).