Now if they integrate the RTM app into Google Maps so people driving in towns or cities they are not familiar with to feel safer …. that could be a good next step.
There is no evidence this will actually stop crime. I agree with Barry that the technology is useful for folks from out of town. It’s really just a sophisticated way of telling people living in a neighborhood or the cops on the beat what they already know – don’t go to XYZ unless you are looking for trouble. The technology still requires resources to police these areas and the only way you can populate the map with crime locations (i.e. evidence of actual criminal behavior) is with police convictions.
In my opinion, it’s not the job of law enforcement to prevent crime. Sadly, we are coming closer to the dystopia depicted in the movie Minority Report. The job of the police is to apply the law to behavior it believes in criminal in nature, which is different. Secondly, with more and more laws on the books every year that limit our choices and freedoms, I fear technology like this will simply enable police to harass or incarcerate ordinary people for ordinary behavior that is not necessarily wrong or immoral.
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Now if they integrate the RTM app into Google Maps so people driving in towns or cities they are not familiar with to feel safer …. that could be a good next step.
There is no evidence this will actually stop crime. I agree with Barry that the technology is useful for folks from out of town. It’s really just a sophisticated way of telling people living in a neighborhood or the cops on the beat what they already know – don’t go to XYZ unless you are looking for trouble. The technology still requires resources to police these areas and the only way you can populate the map with crime locations (i.e. evidence of actual criminal behavior) is with police convictions.
In my opinion, it’s not the job of law enforcement to prevent crime. Sadly, we are coming closer to the dystopia depicted in the movie Minority Report. The job of the police is to apply the law to behavior it believes in criminal in nature, which is different. Secondly, with more and more laws on the books every year that limit our choices and freedoms, I fear technology like this will simply enable police to harass or incarcerate ordinary people for ordinary behavior that is not necessarily wrong or immoral.