Police use of algorithms needs stronger safeguards to prevent bias, report says

The use of analytics and algorithms for policing in England and Wales needs to be more closely scrutinised and regulated, according to a report from security think tank the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi).

Commissioned by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI), the report will be used to inform the organisation’s review into algorithmic bias in the policing sector.

The review is intended help CDEI develop a new code of practice for the use of data analytics in policing, to mitigate risk of bias and address wider legal and ethical concerns pertaining to the use of this technology.

“The CDEI’s goal is to support police forces across the UK to feel confident that their use of these emerging technologies is improving the service they provide and will engender public trust,” said a spokesperson for CDEI.

“The findings from this report will help us develop national guidance which will help to do just that.”

Focusing on the use of machine learning in predictive crime mapping and individual risk assessments specifically, the report finds an increased emphasis on preventive policing has led forces to increasingly focus on data-driven assessments of risk, which is where the problem of biases may arise.

“Algorithms that are trained on police data ‘may replicate (and in some cases amplify) the existing biases inherent in the dataset’, such as over or under-policing of certain communities, or data that reflects flawed or illegal practices,” said the report.

It then goes on to say that bias can arise even at the point of choosing which specific crime areas will be the subject of these data-driven assessments.

“Predictive technological solutions have been criticised for focusing on low-level ‘nuisance’ crime, or on areas with high crime levels and thus poor neighbourhoods,” said the report.

“One academic expert suggested that bias may arise via the police’s conception of a problem (and thus input data would reflect only this conception).”

The report points to the example of the conception of a ‘gang’ being framed around a single demographic, as it was in London following the 2011 Tottenham riots with the Gangs Matrix.

The report further asserts that an increased emphasis on data-driven risk assessments has been shaped, in part, by significant reductions in resources since 2010.

This, coupled with specific funds for digital transformation, has created strong incentives for police to frame any new developments around technology, so they can receive more central government support, creating a bias towards digital initiatives.

“With this in mind, the choice of whether to implement a particular new technological capability may itself be subject to bias,” said the report.

It also states that, within the context of austerity, questions are also raised about the justifiability of using algorithmic policing techniques, which might not be necessary if more resources were made available to forces.