> The cops should think it's a bad idea too. The data will be junk and lead to worthless expenses to track down those garbage leads. You're assuming that thei

> The cops should think it's a bad idea too. The data will be junk and lead to worthless expenses to track down those garbage leads. You're assuming that their goal is to find the correct culprit. But that's not the case. Their goal is to hit their quotas, which serve as lead-gen for the local prosecutor to use to either prosecute or coerce plea deals out of people so they can hit their numbers and run for higher office. None of that requires that they actually catch the "right" person. All of that can easily be done - and regularly is done - on innocent people, or people who might be guilty of something else but had nothing to do with the proximate crime. The goal is to manufacture a valid legal basis for the outcomes that they want, and this tool serves that purpose very well. From their perspective, it's a smashing success. It's the same reason police sometimes use "psychic detectives" (yes, that sounds like fiction, but it actually happens[0]). [0] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R000100280009-3.pdf https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R0001002...