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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Can Big Data Prevent Crime?

    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?

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    By Warren Olney • Dec 11, 2015 • 52m Listen

    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?

    Later on the program, will the GOP presidential nomination be decided in "smoke-filled rooms?"

    Photo: Cory Doctorow

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sarah Sweeney

      Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Paul von Zielbauer

      Co-founder of Geezer magazine, former producer for To the Point and Which Way LA?; former reporter for the New York Times

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Gideon Brower

      Independent Producer

      NewsNationalPolitics
    Back to To the Point