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Crime Prediction Software Promised to Be Free of Biases. It Perpetuates Them

• Bostonian 5y ago
  "Residents of neighborhoods where PredPol suggested few patrols tended to be Whiter and more middle- to upper-income. Many of these areas went years without a single crime prediction. By contrast, neighborhoods the software targeted for increased patrols were more likely to be home to Blacks, Latinos, and families that would qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program." That makes sense if there is more crime in those areas. The purpose of increased patrols is not to punish a community but to reduce victimization in high-crime neighborhoods.