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> Although, the solution would occasionally have issues with particular letters. A mistake like this can and has destroyed lives. http://thisiscriminal.com/ep

> Although, the solution would occasionally have issues with particular letters. A mistake like this can and has destroyed lives. http://thisiscriminal.com/episode-18-695bgk/ http://thisiscriminal.com/episode-18-695bgk/ > Police officer John Edwards was patrolling a quiet neighborhood in Bellaire, Texas when he saw an SUV driven by two young African-American men. It was just before 2am on December 31, 2008. Edwards followed the SUV and ran the license plate number. His computer indicated that the SUV was stolen, and Edwards drew his gun and told the two men to get down on the ground. It wasn’t until later that he realized he’d typed the wrong license plate number into his computer. He was off by one digit. By the time he realized his mistake, one of the men had already been shot in the chest at close range.

panic 9y ago
I'm not sure the license plate scanner is the one to blame here. Since when does stealing a car carry a death sentence?
- fao_ 9y ago
  Exactly, the fault lies with the trigger-happy police, not with the software.
  - mintplant 9y ago
    Of course. But it is precisely this "trigger-happy" nature which makes an introducing a system with an appreciable error rate dangerous. This at least partially (partially) accounts for higher costs.
    - bigiain 9y ago
      I wonder what the comparison of error rates between simple ANPR and "cops typing plates in" looks like...
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
sodawater 9y ago
Even though they peacefully complied with the officer. Oh, wait.
cdfgg 9y ago
isn't it because the officer type wrong license? i thought the scanner purpose is to minimize human error like this
- michaelmior 9y ago
  An automated scanner may be more accurate, but given that it will perform far more scans, I could imagine the total never of false positives being higher.
  - michaelmior 9y ago
    s/never/number/
- rasz 9y ago
  sure, he typed wrong number and got same make, model and color stolen vehicle, also: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/policeman-black-woman-state-attorney-video-watch-pulls-over-awkward-139-was-just-figuring-out-the-a7838041.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/policeman-b...
anitil 9y ago
This sort of thing doesn't really happen in Aus. I could see someone getting arrested and spending a night in jail unnecessarily or maaaaaaybe tased (and to be clear, whether we consider this a fair price to pay is a different question), but police rarely shoot people here.
- andrewstuart 9y ago
  Yes it does. Just the other day the trigger happy cops shot a couple of people at a swingers party.
  - fphhotchips 9y ago
    "The other day" = almost two months ago. Also, apparently (this is one of those stories with three sides) he was holding a fake gun without an orange tip or similar. Police say he was brandishing it, others say he didn't even have it on him. Who knows.
  - anitil 9y ago
    This is what I get for not following the news. I also remember a case years ago on Bondi beach where a guy having a psychotic break and brandishing a knife was killed. If I remember correctly this was used a justification for introducing tasers. I should have said rarely.
    - camillomiller 9y ago
      A knife in the hands of a psycho is much more dangerous than you might think. If he's at close enough range a shooting reaction is correct.
      - vincnetas 9y ago
        You don't need to shoot to kill. You only need to disable a attacker, not kill him. "German Police shoot a knife wielding man in the leg in self defense" https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cfe_1440199540&comments=1 https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cfe_1440199540&comments=1
js2 9y ago
"Tuttle? His name's Buttle. There must be some mistake." "Mistake? Ha ha, we don't make mistakes." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OalIW1yL-k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OalIW1yL-k
- StavrosK 9y ago
  But the bureaucrat(?) did say "Buttle".
  - js2 9y ago
    Well I don't want to spoil the movie. Brazil is worth a watch.
DrScump 9y ago
It's more complex than that. Despite the tragic result, the officers were unanimously acquitted of any criminal wrongdoing. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/24/supreme-court-reignites-robbie-tolan-police-shooting-case/9132883/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/24/suprem...
smcl 9y ago
"...and Edwards drew his gun" - I think this is the situation where the problem arose, not the license plate scanning itself
DarkKomunalec 9y ago
No 100% accurate license-plate reader exists - and that includes human eyesight. Showing license identification confidence levels, as the author's code does, is far better at dissuading the cops from over-reliance on the tool, than pretending no mistakes will ever be made.

panic 9y ago

I'm not sure the license plate scanner is the one to blame here. Since when does stealing a car carry a death sentence?

fao_ 9y ago
Exactly, the fault lies with the trigger-happy police, not with the software.
- mintplant 9y ago
  Of course. But it is precisely this "trigger-happy" nature which makes an introducing a system with an appreciable error rate dangerous. This at least partially (partially) accounts for higher costs.
  - bigiain 9y ago
    I wonder what the comparison of error rates between simple ANPR and "cops typing plates in" looks like...
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

sodawater 9y ago

Even though they peacefully complied with the officer. Oh, wait.

cdfgg 9y ago

isn't it because the officer type wrong license? i thought the scanner purpose is to minimize human error like this

michaelmior 9y ago
An automated scanner may be more accurate, but given that it will perform far more scans, I could imagine the total never of false positives being higher.
- michaelmior 9y ago
  s/never/number/
rasz 9y ago
sure, he typed wrong number and got same make, model and color stolen vehicle, also: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/policeman-black-woman-state-attorney-video-watch-pulls-over-awkward-139-was-just-figuring-out-the-a7838041.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/policeman-b...

anitil 9y ago

This sort of thing doesn't really happen in Aus. I could see someone getting arrested and spending a night in jail unnecessarily or maaaaaaybe tased (and to be clear, whether we consider this a fair price to pay is a different question), but police rarely shoot people here.

andrewstuart 9y ago
Yes it does. Just the other day the trigger happy cops shot a couple of people at a swingers party.
- fphhotchips 9y ago
  "The other day" = almost two months ago. Also, apparently (this is one of those stories with three sides) he was holding a fake gun without an orange tip or similar. Police say he was brandishing it, others say he didn't even have it on him. Who knows.
- anitil 9y ago
  This is what I get for not following the news. I also remember a case years ago on Bondi beach where a guy having a psychotic break and brandishing a knife was killed. If I remember correctly this was used a justification for introducing tasers. I should have said rarely.
  - camillomiller 9y ago
    A knife in the hands of a psycho is much more dangerous than you might think. If he's at close enough range a shooting reaction is correct.
    - vincnetas 9y ago
      You don't need to shoot to kill. You only need to disable a attacker, not kill him. "German Police shoot a knife wielding man in the leg in self defense" https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cfe_1440199540&comments=1 https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cfe_1440199540&comments=1

js2 9y ago

"Tuttle? His name's Buttle. There must be some mistake." "Mistake? Ha ha, we don't make mistakes." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OalIW1yL-k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OalIW1yL-k

StavrosK 9y ago
But the bureaucrat(?) did say "Buttle".
- js2 9y ago
  Well I don't want to spoil the movie. Brazil is worth a watch.

DrScump 9y ago

It's more complex than that. Despite the tragic result, the officers were unanimously acquitted of any criminal wrongdoing. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/24/supreme-court-reignites-robbie-tolan-police-shooting-case/9132883/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/24/suprem...

smcl 9y ago

"...and Edwards drew his gun" - I think this is the situation where the problem arose, not the license plate scanning itself

DarkKomunalec 9y ago

No 100% accurate license-plate reader exists - and that includes human eyesight. Showing license identification confidence levels, as the author's code does, is far better at dissuading the cops from over-reliance on the tool, than pretending no mistakes will ever be made.