End Secret Profiling in Criminal Justice

WHY IT MATTERS

End secret profiling in criminal justice!

There is a huge push to use algorithms to solve our criminal justice problems. Proponents and proprietors of such risk assessment tools think they can use computers to replace common sense and judicial discretion, all while preserving such abstract but important concepts such as justice.

Indeed, it is believed that we can tell the police where to go arrest and who to arrest; we can decide who gets pretrial release or not; and then we can decide who gets what sentence and who is offered a second chance – all by algorithm.

Yet, there are serious cracks in the computerized justice system, and it is time for states and jurisdictions using such risky algorithms to take a serious look at whether the use of these algorithms work, what impact they have on bias in the system, and evaluate the negative impact it may be having on outcomes.

On study found that predictive policing algorithms, including one used in California, “have sometimes seemed to recreate exactly the kind of racial biases their creators say they overcome.”