Pre Crime: Software Could Influence Sentencing Recommendations and Bail Amounts
August 24th, 2010Via: ABC News:
New crime prediction software being rolled out in the nation’s capital should reduce not only the murder rate, but the rate of many other crimes as well.
Developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the software is already used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict which individuals on probation or parole are most likely to murder and to be murdered.
In his latest version, the one being implemented in D.C., Berk goes even further, identifying the individuals most likely to commit crimes other than murder.
If the software proves successful, it could influence sentencing recommendations and bail amounts.
“When a person goes on probation or parole they are supervised by an officer. The question that officer has to answer is ‘what level of supervision do you provide?'” said Berk.
It used to be that parole officers used the person’s criminal record, and their good judgment, to determine that level.
“This research replaces those seat-of-the-pants calculations,” he said.
