Predictive Policing – The Algorithm Knows When And Where You Will Commit Your Crime – Critical View Of New Possibilities In Police Work Using The Example Precobs.

Since the 19th-century police work has been based on the use and analysis of criminal data. Today these maps are created by software using self-learning algorithms, which are designed to enable not only data analysis but also predictions about the future. This software, based on the latest advances in data science is called predictive policing. It is a multidisciplinary approach involving the collection of large amounts of data as well as its systematically filtered evaluation and criminal theories. On the one hand, predictive policing software opens opportunities for making police work more efficient, reducing crime rates and increasing security at focal points. On the other hand, it is necessary to discuss critical issues like the possibility of false interpretation, poor data protection, privacy issues and racism. This work is an early critical analysis of predictive policing technology and a request for deeper and larger studies to prove its efficiency and discuss ethical questions that come up with it.