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Police ethics committees as oversight mechanisms for new technologies in policing: the case of predictive policing
Fri, September 13, 2:00 to 3:15pm, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, Floor: Ground floor, Amphitheater 2 „Nicolae Titulescu”Abstract
Predictive systems can face significant challenges during their development, implementation, and use in policing. However, the adoption of many ‘predictive policing’ systems across the world has usually occurred without oversight mechanisms in place to counter such challenges. This study investigated the processes employed by the West Midlands police ethics committee (WMPEC) when developing, integrating, and using predictive analytics in policing. The research identified how WMPEC addressed the trailing of predictive analytics, examining how organisational and ethical challenges were discussed and addressed, and how projects changed over time. Employing document analysis, this research thematically analysed over 60 documents (including project reports, meeting minutes, evaluation studies). Sixteen projects that involved some forms of predictive logic were presented to WMPEC over the period studied, including place-based and person-based systems. Three projects were approved for piloting but only one was operational at the time of analysis. As projects often took several months to be considered (due to the committee meeting quarterly), documents, presentations and discussion allowed for predictive systems’ ethical considerations to be highlighted and subsequently addressed. Where responses to ethical concerns were unable to satisfy the committee or technical issues occurred, projects were withdrawn. If projects were deemed suitable, emphasis was placed on piloting and evaluation, to examine the organisational implications of each system’s use. Separately, WMPEC engaged in reflective practice to improve its processes, which in turn, sought to aid committee efficiency and effectiveness. This case study of how WMPEC achieves oversight of predictive systems holds implications for other PECs in England and Wales.