By John Vibes
It was recently reported that the Chicago Police Department has implemented an Orwellian new program that targets innocent citizens based on indicators that they might be a person who has the potential to carry out a crime. Similar to dystopian films like Minority Report, a complex computer algorithm will track and catalog every citizen in the city, and use private data about each person to determine whether or not they could be a potential criminal.
Once an innocent civilian has been labeled as a threat, they are then notified that they have been marked as a potential criminal and that they are now under police surveillance.
This disturbing program has quietly been in place for over three years, and in that time, government agents have visited the homes of more than 1,300 innocent people who had high numbers on the list, to inform them that they are now regarded as potential criminals. According to the New York Times, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says that officials this year are stepping up those visits, with at least 1,000 more people.
“We are targeting the correct individuals. We just need our judicial partners and our state legislators to hold these people accountable,” Johnson insisted.
However, activists and advocates of civil liberties are not convinced.
Karen Sheley, the director of the Police Practices Project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, has pointed out that these innocent people are being flagged based on criteria that haven’t even been publicly established.
“We’re concerned about this. There’s a database of citizens built on unknown factors, and there’s no way for people to challenge being on the list. How do you get on the list in the first place? We think it’s dangerous to single out somebody based on secret police information,” Sheley said.
The current program is said to only target individuals who seem to show a high risk of being involved in a shooting. However, it is also important to point out that most laws, especially the bad ones, aren’t even focused on primary violations of life or property, but are instead focused on secondary actions that are seen as causal factors for these violations.
It certainly should be illegal to harm people or their property, but most modern societies, in an apparent attempt to take preventative measures, have outlawed actions that could be a precursor to actual criminal activity.
Some have referred to this concept as “pre-crime.” The idea is that people should be punished if they behave in a way that someone else is uncomfortable with, even if they have not harmed anyone.
These types of laws would include: all drug laws, all gun laws, seatbelt laws, intellectual property and other victimless, non-violent crimes, where no person has been harmed, and no property has been stolen or damaged.
Drugs are illegal, we are told, because their use could lead to actual crime. Guns are highly restricted because someone could get hurt. Seatbelt laws are imposed because someone could get hurt. And, intellectual property is imposed because someone may lose their investment. The arguments in favor of these laws are all overblown or flat out wrong, but the fear of future crime is always used to justify bad laws that have no basis in justice or restitution.
Our entire justice system is made up of this nonsense, which persecutes people who have not hurt anyone or anything because their actions apparently indicate that they will do something harmful in the future. To begin to target individuals before they have even done anything is taking this idea of pre-crime a step further, ushering in a new age of Orwellian surveillance.
Also Read: Minority Report Is Here: Chicago Residents Get Police Visit Based on Pre-Crime Surveillance List (1st stage introduced 2013)
John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can purchase his books, or get your own book published at his website www.JohnVibes.com. John Vibes writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared.
Wow, I wonder if any politicians, police chiefs, or officers made it on the list, and I wonder how many of those people on the list are Black or Mexican
Jawohl mein fuhrer!
Then what? More prisons to be built to house people who just might commit a crime?
Thats what the FEMA camps are for, friend…
is it not true that everything is in reverse, the good guys are inside and all the really bad guys wear uniforms.
Cheers!
Maybe we should devise a computer algorithm to detect individuals with a Authoritarian Personality Disorder.
In that event, every “mental health professional” will be so labeled, as they create these labels for purpose of gaining ascendancy over almost everyone around them, whom they may “psychiatrically evaluate” (or “psychologically evaluate”). These behaviorists who are so full of themselves, never slap their labels onto police! Obviously the state boards that allegedly regulate psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers would suspend or pull their licenses if they slapped labels onto police. Behaviorists and police are both enforcers for the state. But only police (usually) get to use deadly force, making police more important to the state than its ravenous behaviorists.
The U.S. has been pre-crime for years.
Speeding tickets are given because someday someone might cause an accident.
Under-the-influence tickets are given because someday someone might cause an accident.
DUI checkpoint are there because someone might look good or might not look good to a D.C.
TSA exists because you may someday be a terrorist.
In the U.S.A., the firm rule is: guilty until proven innocent.
Another firm rule is: do-the-time and you and your family will be penalized the rest of your life.
You’ve summed things up nicely. Too bad 90% of the population is too stupid to see reality.
how are you guilty until proven innocent ?
cops word vs a persons word. The cop’s word is infalliable while the citizens is scrutinized in the court. Isn’t Justice supposed to be blind, no preference for one or the other? The cops word should be just as scrutinized as the citizens, but it never is. There are several cases being reversed where in the police labs result was taken as 100% true that is now being revealed as inaccurate.
Sit in a courtroom sometime and watch the proceedings, in every court I’ve been in in the last ten years the judge’s attitude is if you’re in their court, you’re guilty. The judge isn’t interested in justice, just clearing the courtroom.
Add to that the concept that you’re guilty after being proved innocent or not responsible. You’re cleared of the charge but still have to pay court costs while the cop collects his overtime pay for testifying.
Get accused of any crime against a woman or child (especially an accusation of a sexual nature) & you will find out very quickly.
Get pulled over by the police & have more cash on you than the officer thinks you should have & they will give you the choice to either give them the money to keep or be arrested & they again will keep the money. Modern day highway men.
Have the IRS seize your bank accounts & asserts because they are informed about your deposits & withdrawals & you may be doing something illegal. Of course they don’t even have to charge you to keep it.
It amazes me how many people will defend the “victimless” laws. In the old Common Law (constitutional law) courts, when a citizen was brought before the judge, the could ask the judge “who is the injured party?” And if there wasn’t one…..they would be free to leave.
If we still had common law courts, drug charges would be null and void because there is no injured party. Same with seat belt laws on down the line.
I know right? They should let people drive drunk and stuff, even though it’s dangerous. That way, when your daughter/son, brother/sister, mother/father, wife/husband gets hit by a drunk driver and they go flying through the windshield, their brains splattered out of their skull as they lay on the pavement in a mangled heap of lifeless meat, you’ll be able to rest easy, knowing that, even though it would’ve saved your loved ones life, when that guy blew through the last 3 stop signs, right before he slammed into your loved one’s vehicle, the cop that saw him do it didn’t stop him, because his swerving and running stop signs didn’t hurt anybody at the very moment that he did it. It was only a few seconds afterwards that he killed your loved one. That’s how I want to live, where that’s the law!
Lock up the DC criminals first, and every corrupt politician first….then when can we talk laws….as of right now I see that our nation is lawless, by a bunch of beauracrats who think they know better than us, and that is not how this country was designed nor what our founding fathers hoped for us. They had hoped we would refresh the tree of liberty…if it ever was them vs us….and right now that’s what we have….one nice giant kleptocraptic, smug and arrogant pompous a s s e s running the show.
Mke Yeary, please drop the concept of “they let” or “they don’t let”.
The government is a construct of the people and receives its authority from the people.
The people have the Creator granted rights above them so cannot restrict other people except when someone violates their rights. i.e. The people can defend themselves.
The people are not authorized to control other people not injuring person or property.
The people cannot convey authority that they don’t have to their government.
Your supposed “law” is not a real law if there has been no injury to person or property.
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It is not the drunk driving or speeding that violates someone else’s rights.
It is if an accident against others is caused whether there was drinking or
speeding or not. Please put your hate where it belongs instead of trying to
restrict the freedom of others.
Pre-crimes are no crimes.
Speeding tickets are given because the speeder committed a crime.
DUIs are given because the driver committed a crime.
DUI checkpoints only result in arrests of drivers that have committed a crime, and driving through them is voluntary.
TSA checkpoints are also voluntary in that flying is voluntary.
Now, personally I would see two of these things mostly abolished &, traffic cops reduced, but categorizing this pre-crime algorithm as similar/the same is inaccurate.
Really? Try to turn around snd not go through a DUI checkpoint and see how fast you are chased down. These days you are guilty just because the cop says so.
Well come on, that’s like running into a bank with a ski-mask on, seeing a cop, then running away.
If you believe that speeding is a crime, then what was the injury to a person or property?
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Even the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes that so-called “DUI” checkpoints violate the Constitution for the United States of America and the U.S. Supreme Court is correct for once.
It is a violation of the 4th Amendment to stop someone if there hasn’t been an injury to a person or property.
To force an answer from someone unConstitutionally stopped also violates the 1st, 5th, and 13th Amendments.
The same U.S. Supreme Court decision that states that a so-called “DUI” checkpoint is unConstitutional also shows that the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t give a flip about the Constitution for the United States of America.
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The TSA restricting a person’s ability to travel is also against the Constitution of the United States of America. The TSA is also violating the 4th Amendment, the 1st Amendment, and 13th Amendment, and many other restrictions against government.
Hey its not as if I’m in love with either practice; if you said ‘lets abolish TSA and DUI checkpoints’ I wouldn’t mind a bit. As for speeding, we’ve decided that exceeding safe speeds is a violation of the law; end of story.
This isn’t some giant oppressive / authoritarian / orwellian nation. At the root of these issues there are people who think they’re helping society. Whether they’re right or not, painting it as this intentionally oppressive police state just eliminates any possibility of productive discussion.
For example, this pre-crime thing- Here its described as basically the exact system from Minority Report, whereas the reality is that all they’re doing is flagging individuals who have several priors for things like firearms and drugs, and keeping a closer eye on them than the rest of us. And guess what; it works! It turns out having a history of something is a predictor for more of that something. People freak out as if we’re arresting them for murders our computer says they’ll commit in 2025, but that isn’t the case at all. This system isn’t any crazier than having a larger police force in a high-crime community than neighboring low-crime communities. Law enforcement has a job to do, and unfortunately some communities & individuals predictably commit more crime than others. Telling L.E. they have to choose between doing their job less effectively vs. being looked at as oppressors by a portion of the community they serve is unfair.
I think that if the citizens who have issues with the way things are done would be a less sensational with their portrayal of the situation, it would be a lot easier to identify and address what’s going on.
beseriousplease, in what twilight zone is speeding a crime?
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The structure of the U.S.A. is:
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Creator granter rights are at the top.
The People are next in line.
The U.S. Constitution created by the people is still lower.
The laws and branches of government are still lower.
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The laws and branches of gov. cannot override the U.S. Constitution.
The laws and branches of gov. cannot override the People.
The laws and branches of gov. certainly cannot override Creator granted rights
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The U.S. Constitution cannot override the People.
The U.S. Constitution certainly cannot override the Creator granted rights.
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The people cannot override the Creator granted rights of other people.
That includes the right to travel without causing injury to other persons or to property of other people and the right to travel fast, doped up, and drunk.
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beseriousplease, were you indoctrinated/brainwashed in the U.S. school system?
That would explain your dream that speeding is a crime.
It is a pre-crime to stop someone before there is an injury to person or property being committed and also a violation to the Constitution for the United States of America including the right to travel and the 4th Amendment.
Thanks for responding to the entirety of my post, rather than focusing exclusively on the difference between an infraction and a criminal offense (both of which are violations of the law). Way to go; I’m so glad I took the time to type it.
Anyway, you have fun in your fight against the man. I think I’ll get back to living among the rest of society; I’ll be sure to tell them of your tragic plight.
beseriousplease, you made your point clear.
You never heard of the U.S. Declaration for Independence.
You don’t like the U.S. Constitution so follow a corrupt government that tramples it.
The U.S. Bill of Rights does not exist or has been over-thrown.
The TSA is legal because you believe that anything that the U.S. Congress passes as law is law no matter whether it violates the U.S. Constitution or not.
And you made yours; oppressive & evil big government yada yada
Keep fighting the good fight bud. It’ll all be worth it someday
gee Kell – uhh let me guess – uhh 0.
The thin blue line exists to bust the commoners chops and keep the elitist scum safe to carry out their brand of theft and debauchery.
Does a thug who posts a YouTube video of themselves brandishing firearms
and threatening to kill Donald Trump (for example) deserve a visit from
the police even though they have committed no crime yet? Haven’t people
who make threats against the President always been visited by Secret
Service when the President is going to make an appearance in the area?
I guess I am surprised that in a city like Chicago there have been only
1300 individuals deemed to have enough potential to warrant a visit,
what with all the known gang members and sexual predators and all. I
don’t think that some guy who shot a tweety bird with their BB gun as a
child and who is now going through a contentious divorce is going to be
tagged for a pre-crime.
Seeing as how almost everyone I know has said “I hope he dies” or “I would if I had the chance”, no, he shouldn’t be visited, because it’s kind of that way with public figures. Facebook sees thousands of death threats about Obama a day, they’ve visited like 5 in 8 years. So the Police visiting such a huge number, means they are not being super specific. “Poor, black, no father on birth certificate, yup, go knock on his door, let him know we are watching him”. Remember, these aren’t criminals. These are people never in trouble, yet 1,300 deemed criminals worth watching.
Where do you get the idea that these aren’t criminals? The author claims their “innocence” with no way of having any knowledge of the matter. You expect me to believe that these people didn’t have criminal records? What do you think they are basing this on, library cards? And in a city of around 3 million, 1300 people visited barely registers, certainly not a “huge” number. Your claims are unsubstantiated. BTW, I voted for Bernie in my state’s primary, a state that delivered him an early upset and win. Feelin’ the Bern doesn’t mean checking your common sense at the door.
This is about saying that we are all potentially guilty and we had better watch ourselves. It is part of political correctness. It is about getting us to self censor and always be on the defensive. It is about getting us not to trust ourselves.
I was repeatedly accused of being a “narcotics user.” Their probable cause? I was walking a dog. Why don’t police stop being indefinite and just come out into the open and admit that if you’re not a member of their occupation, or a member of an occupation that supports or supervises them, they consider you to be a felon?
This post is entirely misleading from what is actually being done. Chicago is only targeting known criminals and gang members who they believe will be shot soon. Just read the NY Times article that is linked. However, I do agree this is a slippery slipe that the government should NOT be doing.
I have to say at least they tell these people that they are being watched rather than waiting for them to say murder someone…..there are many really sick people being watched who have a psychopathic attitude and could happily kill someone. I think this is awesome.
And I think you are brain dead~
Watch dogs. It’s happening boiz!
Why does this article work in a jab against seatbelts?
would they release what data these algorithm is using?
criminal records
past employment
current location
credit record.- debt,
recent acquisitions
social media post
personnal mail
personnal preferences music, websites, etc
hobbies
None of this will make sense by themselves
would they release what data these algorithm is using?
criminal records
past employment
current location
credit record.- debt,
recent acquisitions
social media post
personnal mail
personnal preferences music, websites, etc
hobbies
None of this will make sense by themselves.
On another thing im sure they already did this before the algorithm, at least in my country i know they do, they find infromation and use some kind of shrodinger tactic, to see if they can arrest you for something, basically they will create several situations and see how would you react if they cant do anything they can change tactics, and so on indefinetly, if they persist they can also use other thing to keep pressure,like sending bots mostly woman or someone that seem to be vulnerable in case you attack them,they will repeat something you just mentioned on internet a site or wherever, but always avoiding showing its them, or giving conclusive evidence so im certain thats the “source” of this algorithm.Funny note if evidence of this is provided they will keep it up but more discretly to try and avoid legal action, similar things might happend in the virtual world.
This by itself is nothing but a bother however this same type of tecnic could be used for something much worst, so there is no real benefit fort this tyes of algorithms and the little justification they might have would require them to explain how they work? who gathers the data? what are the variables? at what point you are considered a suspect? etc.
Isn’t it amazing what a false-flag attack (9/11), a few FBI/DOJ agent provocateur concocted terror attacks, police state laws passed in the dead of night, without review, can do to a constitutional republic?
Looks like it’s working good, especially in the hood, they would have had even more murders in chicago, pat rahm butt on the back,,,,opps I mean fanny! One wouldn’t want to set off the homophobic algorithm !
EXCUSE to arrest ANYONE.
Whoever is doing this “minority report” ironically, should be arrested for a “pre-crime”.
Arrested before a crime is committed where is the justice in that?
The words ” Wedge” and “thin end of the…. ” spring to mind !