Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing

Criminal justice surveillance has expanded rapidly in recent decades, and the use of big data has spread across various fields. In Predict and Surveil, Sarah Brayne offers an inside look at how the Los Angeles Police Department uses big data and new surveillance technologies, examining the causes and consequences of these practices. While big data analytics has the potential to reduce bias and increase efficiency, it also reproduces and deepens existing patterns of inequality, threatens privacy, and challenges civil liberties.

Format: Hardback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 14 January 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

The scope of criminal justice surveillance, spanning from police departments to prisons, has experienced a significant expansion in recent decades. Parallel to this, the widespread adoption of big data has permeated various sectors, including finance, politics, health, and marketing. While the use of big data by law enforcement is a subject of intense debate, there is limited knowledge about how police actually utilize it in their daily operations and the potential consequences of such practices.

In her book "Predict and Surveil," Sarah Brayne provides an unprecedented and in-depth exploration of how law enforcement agencies, particularly the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), leverage big data and advanced surveillance technologies. Brayne's work combines on-the-ground fieldwork with insights from one of the world's most technologically advanced law enforcement agencies. Through extensive interviews and ethnographic observations spanning over two years, Brayne delves into the causes and implications of big data and algorithmic control. She uncovers how the police employ predictive analytics and new surveillance technologies to allocate resources, identify criminal suspects, and conduct investigations. Moreover, she examines how the adoption of big data analytics reshapes police organizational practices and how the police themselves respond to these data-driven approaches.

While big data analytics holds the potential to reduce bias, enhance efficiency, and improve prediction accuracy, Brayne argues that it also perpetuates and deepens existing patterns of inequality, threatens privacy, and challenges civil liberties. This groundbreaking examination of big data policing challenges the prevailing mindset regarding the data-driven supervision law enforcement increasingly imposes upon civilians in the name of objectivity, transparency, and twenty-first-century policing.

In conclusion, "Predict and Surveil" offers a vital contribution to our understanding of the evolving landscape of criminal justice surveillance and the role of big data in law enforcement. Brayne's book sheds light on the practices, challenges, and ethical considerations associated with the use of predictive analytics and new surveillance technologies by law enforcement agencies. It prompts us to reevaluate the balance between public safety, privacy, and civil liberties in the age of big data and algorithmic control.

Weight: 452g
Dimension: 164 x 242 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780190684099