5 ms·

Police use new tool to source crowds for evidence

25 points by a_olt 12y ago

sukuriant 12y ago
This link doesn't work for me. I'm taken to AP's "pick where you live" page :/
- aylons 12y ago
  Same here. At first, I though selecting any state would lead me to the article, but it just opened a drop-down menu, and clicking it does nothing. Very frustrating. Any ideas, anyone?
  - tbrake 12y ago
    Looks like the querystring was cut off : http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CROWDSOURCING_EVIDENCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CROWDSOURCING_EVID... takes me to the story.
  - chiph 12y ago
    ap.org sets a cookie once you pick a location & news partner. Go back and click the original link a second time.
  - vortexnulem 12y ago
    a bunch. The first one is google cache. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:U3QEEvLV--AJ:hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CROWDSOURCING_EVIDENCE%3FSITE%3DAP%26SECTION%3DHOME%26TEMPLATE%3DDEFAULT+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:U3QEEvL...
- dang 12y ago
  Oops. That was probably my mistake. Please stand by. Edit: does it work now? We changed the url from [1], which pointed to this more original source. 1. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/cops-embracing-ios-android-apps-to-crowdsource-investigations/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/cops-embracing-io...
wil421 12y ago
>And since it uses remote database servers that police access online, floods of data won't cause system crashes or be expensive to store. Most agencies, Edson said, "don't have lots of bandwidth lying around." I dont really get what they mean here. Are they saying since the DB is in the cloud/remote it isnt subject to crashing?
- bri3d 12y ago
  They're saying that most individual police departments don't have the IT resource to scale a crowdsourcing system, and that by centralizing both the resources and software development they expect the system to be able to scale. In reality they're just exposing themselves to a single point of failure, but hoping their single point of failure is more robust by virtue of shared learning.
  - wil421 12y ago
    So basically shifting the blame onto a 3rd party instead of an internal team. I believe it said they moved to AWS hopefully they wont have a zone go down during a riot.
- r00fus 12y ago
  I read it as this: the police are outsourcing the crowd-sourcing to a "valued partner" who may or may not have ties with the commissioners, legislators or city officials that have decision making power. ie, it's yet another public-private partnership that is ripe for crony capitalism. Also absent is any discussions of ramifications on misuse (what happens when this turns into a snitch-line?)
  - afarrell 12y ago
    What is the difference between a "snitch-line" and the specific purpose for which this was designed? What is wrong with a "snitch-line"?
    - tedks 12y ago
aidenn0 12y ago
I live in Santa Barbara (neighboring Isla Vista). At least judging by portrayal in local media, there has been a lot of locals sympathetic to the police; the general feeling I get is that those living in IV blame all the out-of-towners for the various parties getting out of control (Including Floatopia/Deltopia and Haloween). With similar party-turned-riots at the college I went to, the majority involved were students, so I think something like this would get less assistance.
calcsam 12y ago
"Designers say users can post anonymously and should strip metadata from files they send." Talk about poor design. Instead of automatically stripping metadata, they rely on users to do so. On a mobile phone.
- pavel_lishin 12y ago
  Would you trust them if they auto-stripped the metadata for you?
  - aidenn0 12y ago
    I think I would strip the metadata, but also want them to auto-strip.
    - Canada 12y ago
      They should prompt the user. Let the user decide what metadata to include and review it before submission. Personally, I would probably leave all the metadata intact and leave contact information if I were submitting pictures of a riot. I don't agree with Nate Cardozo. If you're in public then you may be photographed and those photos may be shared with other parties, including law enforcement. More concerning is access to the database of photos. Anyone who is accused must have full access. It wouldn't be right if prosecutors were able to withhold exculpatory evidence.
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    That's something which could, at least in theory, be tested through an audit.
cushychicken 12y ago
Anyone who remembers the complete fiasco of Reddit trying to catch the Boston Marathon bombers can tell you one scenario in which this technology can go horribly, horribly wrong.
elwell 12y ago
My startup automatically collects photos & videos that are shared (Instagram, Twitter, Vine, Flickr, Youtube) that were taken at events (geotag, hashtag, contextual analysis). It can consequently be used for this purpose as well. Example event: http://wesawit.com/events/bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band-at-bbt-center-2014-04-29-52fa03f7165dc http://wesawit.com/events/bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street...

25 points by a_olt 12y ago

sukuriant 12y ago

This link doesn't work for me. I'm taken to AP's "pick where you live" page :/

aylons 12y ago
Same here. At first, I though selecting any state would lead me to the article, but it just opened a drop-down menu, and clicking it does nothing. Very frustrating. Any ideas, anyone?
- tbrake 12y ago
  Looks like the querystring was cut off : http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CROWDSOURCING_EVIDENCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CROWDSOURCING_EVID... takes me to the story.
- chiph 12y ago
  ap.org sets a cookie once you pick a location & news partner. Go back and click the original link a second time.
- vortexnulem 12y ago
  a bunch. The first one is google cache. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:U3QEEvLV--AJ:hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CROWDSOURCING_EVIDENCE%3FSITE%3DAP%26SECTION%3DHOME%26TEMPLATE%3DDEFAULT+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:U3QEEvL...
dang 12y ago
Oops. That was probably my mistake. Please stand by. Edit: does it work now? We changed the url from [1], which pointed to this more original source. 1. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/cops-embracing-ios-android-apps-to-crowdsource-investigations/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/cops-embracing-io...

wil421 12y ago

>And since it uses remote database servers that police access online, floods of data won't cause system crashes or be expensive to store. Most agencies, Edson said, "don't have lots of bandwidth lying around." I dont really get what they mean here. Are they saying since the DB is in the cloud/remote it isnt subject to crashing?

bri3d 12y ago
They're saying that most individual police departments don't have the IT resource to scale a crowdsourcing system, and that by centralizing both the resources and software development they expect the system to be able to scale. In reality they're just exposing themselves to a single point of failure, but hoping their single point of failure is more robust by virtue of shared learning.
- wil421 12y ago
  So basically shifting the blame onto a 3rd party instead of an internal team. I believe it said they moved to AWS hopefully they wont have a zone go down during a riot.
r00fus 12y ago
I read it as this: the police are outsourcing the crowd-sourcing to a "valued partner" who may or may not have ties with the commissioners, legislators or city officials that have decision making power. ie, it's yet another public-private partnership that is ripe for crony capitalism. Also absent is any discussions of ramifications on misuse (what happens when this turns into a snitch-line?)
- afarrell 12y ago
  What is the difference between a "snitch-line" and the specific purpose for which this was designed? What is wrong with a "snitch-line"?
  - tedks 12y ago

aidenn0 12y ago

I live in Santa Barbara (neighboring Isla Vista). At least judging by portrayal in local media, there has been a lot of locals sympathetic to the police; the general feeling I get is that those living in IV blame all the out-of-towners for the various parties getting out of control (Including Floatopia/Deltopia and Haloween). With similar party-turned-riots at the college I went to, the majority involved were students, so I think something like this would get less assistance.

calcsam 12y ago

"Designers say users can post anonymously and should strip metadata from files they send." Talk about poor design. Instead of automatically stripping metadata, they rely on users to do so. On a mobile phone.

pavel_lishin 12y ago
Would you trust them if they auto-stripped the metadata for you?
- aidenn0 12y ago
  I think I would strip the metadata, but also want them to auto-strip.
  - Canada 12y ago
    They should prompt the user. Let the user decide what metadata to include and review it before submission. Personally, I would probably leave all the metadata intact and leave contact information if I were submitting pictures of a riot. I don't agree with Nate Cardozo. If you're in public then you may be photographed and those photos may be shared with other parties, including law enforcement. More concerning is access to the database of photos. Anyone who is accused must have full access. It wouldn't be right if prosecutors were able to withhold exculpatory evidence.
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  That's something which could, at least in theory, be tested through an audit.

cushychicken 12y ago

Anyone who remembers the complete fiasco of Reddit trying to catch the Boston Marathon bombers can tell you one scenario in which this technology can go horribly, horribly wrong.

elwell 12y ago

My startup automatically collects photos & videos that are shared (Instagram, Twitter, Vine, Flickr, Youtube) that were taken at events (geotag, hashtag, contextual analysis). It can consequently be used for this purpose as well. Example event: http://wesawit.com/events/bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band-at-bbt-center-2014-04-29-52fa03f7165dc http://wesawit.com/events/bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street...