For a number of years now, government agencies are trying to figure out new ways for prevention of crime.

Essentially, technology is used for both of the purposes, to nab criminals when crime is committed, and to bring a criminal to justice. It is very important to develop technology in such a way that occurrence of crimes reduces. If crime is meticulously discouraged, a number of criminals would be discouraged. When a criminal comes to figure out that the likelihood of being caught is higher, he is unlikely to go ahead with his plans for the crime.

There are a number of cases wherein technology helps a criminal commit a crime. It hence becomes important for the crime regulation agencies to be a step ahead of offenders, in order to counter and prevent crime in a better way.

Preventing crime through technology

More and more incidents of cyber crime are coming to prominence by the day. With internet at one’s disposal, one can hack private information which an organization would have no desire to reveal otherwise. It can result in significant losses at an organizational level.

In the same manner, phishing software, viruses and malware may be created, which hack critical information like banking passwords or credit card details, erase banking related information, or even find access to information related to a nation’s security.

It is hence important that the public sector is thorough with measures for prevention of crime, at all levels, and cyber security comes across as a significant crime prevention measures for the government of a nation. It keeps the citizens, organizations and government entities safe. Alternately, cyber security measures help nab down criminals or defaulting parties.

Let us take a look at a few of the top technologies which work towards preventing crimes:

Bio Metric Technology:

A few of the techniques that are very often used in the western countries as an attempt to prevent the occurrence of crime are face recognition, DNA matching and infrared technology.  This type of technologies can be used to preventing the unauthorized access to sensitive information or restricted buildings and areas.

DNA matching is very useful for identifying a criminal with his past records. DNA found at the crime scene is maintained for future reference. This may be used to track the criminal’s location at any time, and judiciously prosecuting him.

Mapping Technology:

Mapping technologies such as geographical information systems (GIS), data mapping applications and remote sensing allow law enforces to find a significant help across areas such as criminal intelligence, emergency response, crime analysis and policing.

Mapping time essentially involve use of real time information, which helps access where the crimes are happening, based over a classification of what kind of crimes they are. Pattern activity facilitates identification of hotspots. Investigations are hence more focused, which helps in crime prevention.

Predictive policing

Smartphone Apps:

Just a few years back, the number of apps for smartphones were absolute minimal. By using smartphones, people instantly make images and videos of criminal activity, and at times, text anonymous tips to police. Self reporting is a trend which will enhance with the passage of years.

Artificial Intelligence

Use of artificial Intelligence for preventing crime may seem like something from science fiction, but it has now very much become a part of our daily lives. Artificial Intelligence essentially is a technology which withholds abundant scope for facilitating crime prevention for the future. It is a technology which is being developed by the day, with new innovations and breakthroughs coming to fore. Behavioural software, along with facial recognition is used to prevent a crime before it occurs.

There are some ethical questions associated with the same as well. As an example, predictive policing relies entirely over records of crime that have been reported by a particular community, or as observed during police patrols. The frameworks for evaluation are driven by computers.

The problem that arises with the same is that feedback loops may be formed. Correspondingly, there is a risk of additional enforcement over certain communities, who are being heavily policed already. 

Another important area of concern is the accuracy of information. A few of the reports express that technology for facial recognition has a 98% false positive rate.

It is hence judicious to make sure that police resources are used only for actual threats, rather than the ones which are perceived.

Just like human beings, technology is prone to making errors as well. There are times wherein AI has shown an unfair bias against black people or women. It may even be possible that an entire algorithm is biased. Just as an example, Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS), which is used in the United States, has now been found to have a racial bias in an indirect way.

Therefore, law enforcement authorities must be very careful in devising these algorithms. Apart from data derived from Artificial Intelligence, they must use their own discretion for giving out judgments or deriving conclusions.

By using COMPAS, black defendants are at a higher risk as compared to white defendants. They are more likely to be misclassified, as compared to their white counterparts.

The entire process is unethical. Moreover, it is unacceptable. A number of people from the community are hence at a disadvantage.

The truth about facial recognition is that people become a part of the system without their consent or approval. There have been instances in the past wherein the software has been used to figure out the typical face of a criminal. The data has been collected from social media, school schedules and social events.

Another issue that arises with use of these algorithms is that the ways in which these are implemented is not transparent. It is hence very difficult to figure out a bias and correspondingly counteract on them. An area of Artificial Intelligence that must essentially be explored is use of algorithms or evaluation frameworks for sentencing. A few of the software in United States predict future criminality on the basis of the individual’s history or the tendency to do harm. It is hence important to make sure that it is only the guilty that are prosecuted. Scientists are now entrusted with the task of feeding morality into machines, which is going to be an uphill task.