Democratic Lawmakers Urge DOJ To Halt Funding For Predictive Policing Tech – Warn Of Discriminatory Impact
A group of Democratic lawmakers has called on the Justice Department (DOJ) to pause funding for predictive policing technology amid discrimination concerns.
Predictive policing uses computer systems to analyze large sets of data, including historical crime data, to help decide where to deploy police or identify individuals who are purportedly more likely to commit or be a victims of a crime.
In a letter released Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Yvette Clarke, and five other senators asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to halt all DOJ grants.
The Concerns With Predictive Policing Technology
The letter states that mounting evidence indicates that predictive policing technologies do not reduce crime.
Instead, they worsen the unequal treatment of Americans of color by law enforcement.
“Predictive policing systems rely on historical data distorted by falsified crime reports and disproportionate arrests of people of color,” the letter claims.
“As a result, they are prone to over-predicting crime rates in Black and Latino neighborhoods while under-predicting crime in white neighborhoods. The continued use of such systems creates a dangerous feedback loop: biased predictions are used to justify disproportionate stops and arrests in minority neighborhoods, which further biases statistics on where crimes are happening.”
Read: Senators Call For DOJ Investigation Into Facial Recognition Tech Over Civil Rights Concerns
A Call To Pause Grants
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the senators stated that it is unlawful for programs that the DOJ funds to discriminate based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.
The DOJ has been making grants for predictive policing systems since at least 2009, and it has now been asked to ensure that its grant recipients comply with Title VI.
The letter also demanded that the DOJ pause grants to state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies.
The recent letter comes more than two years after Wyden and Clarke sent an initial letter to the DOH over whether the department funds these systems.
Nearly a year after their inquiry, Wyden claimed the DOJ’s reply did not answer the members’ questions in detail about how much federal money goes into this technology.
