While the social and ethical risks of PAPM have been widely discussed, little guidance has been provided to police departments, community advocates, or to developers of place-based algorithmic patrol management systems (PAPM systems) about how to mitigate those risks. The framework outlined in this report aims to fill that gap. This document proposes best practices for the development and deployment of PAPM systems that are ethically informed and empirically grounded. Given that the use of place-based policing is here to stay, it is imperative to provide useful guidance to police departments, community advocates, and developers so that they can address the social risks associated with PAPM. We strive to develop recommendations that are concrete, practical, and forward-looking. Our goal is to parry critiques of PAPM into practical recommendations to guide the ethically sensitive design and use of data-driven policing technologies.
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Five ethical challenges facing data-driven policing
This paper synthesizes scholarship from several academic disciplines to identify and analyze five major ethical challenges facing data-driven policing. Because the term “data-driven policing” encompasses a broad swath of technologies, we first outline several data-driven policing initiatives currently in use in the United States. We then lay out the five ethical challenges. Certain of these challenges have received considerable attention already, while others have been largely overlooked. In many cases, the challenges have been articulated in the context of related discussions, but their distinctively ethical dimensions have not been explored in much detail. Our goal here is to articulate and clarify these ethical challenges, while also highlighting areas where these issues intersect and overlap. Ultimately, responsible data-driven policing requires collaboration between communities, academics, technology developers, police departments, and policy makers to confront and address these challenges. And as we will see, it may also require critically reexamining the role and value of police in society.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1917712
- PAR ID:
- 10320731
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- AI and Ethics
- ISSN:
- 2730-5953
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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