Fresno Police beta testing computer algorithm to assess individual threat levels

Police may not even know they are being used.

The robot revolution is already here. Part of that revolution is the algorithms that provide information and dictate behavior for artificial intelligence. You'll be chilled to see that police are already using a new technology to profile you before they even approach you.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Police in Fresno, CA are now using a new computer algorithm to assess a person's threat potential before approaching them. The program, dubbed "Beware" assigns a threat level to a suspect based on their prior interactions with the police, as well as hundreds of other data points including commercial records and deep web searches. Social network pages are scanned. The result is a color coded warning. Red is the highest threat level.

The new system tells police how to approach a suspect. A green suspect can be approached almost casually, a yellow may a require second officer be present, and a red may require several officers with weapons ready.

The tool can help save police officer's lives by giving them vital information about how volatile a suspect is by examining historical data about that person. By searching the web and public records as well as criminal history, the police will know what to expect, which can allow them to temper their expectations. It could even make interactions safer for the public because the police will know how to approach a person.

Few people could object to a program that makes police and citizens safer. However, this issue goes far beyond that.

The first "robo-cops" have been deployed as security guards in Silicon Valley, and this is a precursor to actual robot policing. Before robots can effectively police the public, they will need sophisticated algorithms to direct their interactions. What better way to refine the algorithm than to use humans in the beta testing phase? This is what's happening in Fresno, even if the Fresno police haven't connected the dots.

Add other systems that are being tested, and a digital officer might be extremely effective in tracking a suspect. For example, police can now use WiFi connections to digitally fingerprint and track a suspect. Digital fingerprints can be as damning as the real thing, except they can be tracked in real-time.

Over time, our privacy is being sacrificed in the name of safety. This is an essential component of social control. If you can monitor people at all times, you can control them. Until now, monitoring has always been passive. Now ubiquitous cameras videotape what people do and only if there's evidence of a crime do police take a second look. But soon, an algorithm will be assessing people. Some people may be watched more than others. A score used by the police could also be used for other things, such as in hiring or school admission.

A similar pilot program has emerged in China, and it is being used to evaluate citizen's political loyalty, much a like a credit score monitors financial worthiness.

The data can later be combined with other data to provide increasingly complex information. GPS studies have revealed that humans tend to behave in very predicable patterns. What will be revealed of our future with just a few years of closely gathered data? Will we be able to predict crimes before they happen, a-la "Minority Report"?

Also, what role will human police officers play in the future when robots learn how to interact with the public and unerringly enforce laws?

We may have a very safe society, but it will be one without privacy and with limits on liberty. Is this the world we want to live in?

It's a question we need to ask and answer now, because the robots are coming. Our answers may direct how they are programmed. That's important, because the robots are coming whether we like it or not.

The Washington Post offers additional detail on what's happening in Fresno. Read their coverage here. Beware has been developed by Intrado. How it works is a trade secret and even the Fresno PD are given only basic information.