Can Big Data Prevent Crime?
To the Point
KCRW
4.4 • 583 Ratings
🗓️ 11 December 2015
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tech companies claim that analyzing big data can predict crime and help to prevent it. That sounds like science fiction, but police agencies around the country are buying into it — with federal assistance. Critics say it's science fiction after all — with the risk of violating civil rights and eroding public confidence. Is it making law enforcement more efficient and more effective or reinforcing the biases that are leading to the erosion of public trust?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Join left-right and center host Bob Shear for his new podcast, Shear Intelligence. |
| 0:06.4 | The twice-monthly podcast features thinkers and trendsetters in conversation with one of political journalism's leading voices. |
| 0:14.0 | Through the show's unique and sometimes surprising perspectives, you'll get up to speed on the current issues shaping the Beltway and the world. Find sheer |
| 0:23.8 | intelligence on KCRW's iTunes page. From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI Public Radio International, |
| 0:32.8 | this is To the Point. Can big data prevent crime? |
| 0:41.4 | Hello again, I'm on Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International. |
| 0:45.3 | A daily look at the issues Americans cut about most. |
| 0:47.8 | Every cop and sheriff's deputy dreams of the day when law enforcement can stop crimes rather |
| 0:52.3 | than solving them after the fact. |
| 0:55.3 | Now many are buying programs from tech companies like Atachi and IBM, which claim that analyzing big data can predict |
| 1:00.6 | crime before it happens. But garbage in means garbage out. And critics are asking where all that |
| 1:05.8 | data comes from. Is it information that beat cops and investigators already know? Is it making law enforcement more efficient and more effective |
| 1:13.5 | or reinforcing the biases that are leading to the erosion of public trust? |
| 1:18.7 | Today's talking point will the GOP nomination be decided in smoke-filled rooms. |
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| 1:57.1 | Tech companies claim that analyzing big data can predict crime and help to prevent it. |
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