The New Way Police Are Surveilling You: Calculating Your Threat ‘Score’

[Purveyor]

FRESNO, Calif. — While officers raced to a recent 911 call about a man threatening his ex-girlfriend, a police operator in headquarters consulted software that scored the suspect’s potential for violence the way a bank might run a credit report.

The program scoured billions of data points, including arrest reports, property records, commercial databases, deep Web searches and the man’s social- media postings. It calculated his threat level as the highest of three color-coded scores: a bright red warning.

The man had a firearm conviction and gang associations, so out of caution police called a negotiator. The suspect surrendered, and police said the intelligence helped them make the right call — it turned out he had a gun.

As a national debate has played out over mass surveillance by the National Security Agency, a new generation of technology such as the Beware software being used in Fresno has given local law enforcement officers unprecedented power to peer into the lives of citizens.

Police officials say such tools can provide critical information that can help uncover terrorists or thwart mass shootings, ensure the safety of officers and the public, find suspects, and crack open cases. They say that last year’s attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., have only underscored the need for such measures.

more...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/the-new-way-police-are-surveilling-you-calculating-your-threat-score/2016/01/10/e42bccac-8e15-11e5-baf4-bdf37355da0c_story.html

[JDPriestly]

1. No way!

[HeiressofBickworth]

2. How long before this system

is used to withhold services.

70-year-old white woman, Democrat, Social Security, no dependents.... not worth spending the resources on this one.

There is always an alternative use of technology developed to spy on us.

[MrScorpio]

3. Who watches the Watchmen? Nt

[whatthehey]

4. Doubtless will elicit horrified responses here

But how many have ever said something along the lines of "why can't they tell who's going to go nuts with a gun before it happens? Why did they miss the warning signs?"

Either warning signs should be paid attention to or they shouldn't. It's impossible to only pay attention to "them" because you need to pay attention to find out who "they" are..