Should We Use Big Data To Punish Crimes Before They're Committed?
NERSC's Franklin NERSCWelcome to a future in which big data helps law enforcement predict and punish crime before it happens. John Anderton is the chief of a special police unit in Washington, D.C. This particular morning, he bursts into a suburban house moments before Howard Marks, in a state of frenzied rage, is about to plunge a pair of scissors into the torso of his wife, whom he found in bed with another man. For Anderton, it is just another day preventing capital crimes. "By mandate of the District of Columbia Precrime Division," he recites, "I'm placing you under arrest for the future murder of Sarah Marks, that was to take place today...." Other cops start restraining Marks, who screams, "I did not do anything!" The opening scene of the film Minority Report depicts a society in which predictions seem so accurate that the police arrest individuals for crimes before...