Frontline London campaign: Police set to use Minority Report-style software to target

[tracym]

A
bout 3,500 gang members in London are to be targeted by the Met via a new Minority Report-style computer system that will predict where and when offenders will strike next.

“Predictive analytics” software will use police data on “harmful individuals” to map gang activity and membership in each of the capital’s 32 boroughs.

It will also reveal “hotspots” of gang offending, predict the frequency with which members are likely to offend and use a “severity assessment” to work out which mobs pose most danger.

The aim is to let police target their anti-gang efforts more effectively. It is also intended to allow “improved social media monitoring” as a further way of combating gang offending. Details of the scheme, approved by deputy mayor for policing Stephen Greenhalgh, are set out in a City Hall report which says it may play a key role in cutting crime.

[joselync]

The REAL Minority Report: Met Police test software that predicts the chance of gangs committing a crime BEFORE it happens

London's Metropolitan Police tested system by Accenture for 20 weeks
Software analyses a person's criminal history and posts on social media
Data is combined to assess how likely it is for them to commit a crime
Police analysed data about gang members across a four year period
They would not disclose exact criteria on which criminals were scored
Big Brother Watch has asked for more information to be made public