LONDON – The human rights group, Liberty, has come up with a new revelation about the UK forces. According to it, at least 14 UK forces have been either using or planning to use crime prediction software. The group suspects that this could lead to biased policing strategies to mainly focus only ethnic minorities and lower-income communities. Also, it claims that there is a “severe lack of transparency” about this matter.
On the other hand, the supporters, as well as the defenders of the technology, claim that it could provide new insights into various crimes. Against the crimes such as gun and knife crime, sex-trafficking and other potentially life-threatening offenses, it could prove to be a strong measure especially when the police budgets are under pressure. Many popular companies namely, IBM, Microsoft, Predpol, and Palantir have been developing this crime-prediction software. And the report says that there are a total of 14 armed forces who are making use of crime prediction software.
Both Liberty and the armed forces are not on the same page as far as the use of crime prediction software is concerned. The armed force namely, Avon and Somerset Police claimed that it gave an invitation to the members of the press to know about the Qlik system, it used in the action, to spread public awareness. However, Liberty raised its voice against the use of crime prediction software. It said the technologies lacked proper oversight, and also there was no clear evidence that they had led to safer communities.
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