The year has seen thousands of people protesting against the police, for one reason or another. And the year is not yet at its end. It seems all across America, there are some members of the police force who discriminate, are brutal, or commit unjustified errors against citizens. A recent investigation highlights a Pasco Sheriff’s Office in Florida for using a faulty crime-predicting algorithm which targets innocent people, and are harassed for no valid reason.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, it was reported that police visited the homes of people identified by the algorithm and searched for reasons to arrest them. Definitely a form of police harassment. If no reason could be found, they would cite these citizens for zoning violations or some other whimsical offenses. These offenses were then fed into the algorithm, which branded the people as criminals again, leading to further harassment.
The report by the Tampa Bay Times identified 21 families focused on by the algorithm and regularly harassed even though no evidence was uncovered of any wrongdoing. Most of the time, these citizens were targeted simply because they had previous encounters with the police, or had prior criminal charges filed against them, no matter the offense.
Surely the Pasco Sheriff’s Office responded to the reports by the newspaper.A spokesman from the sheriff’s office defended the program, citing that it was similarly used by other police departments. They took offense with the word “harassment,” citing that visiting a random person’s home is not illegal, and searching for any violation is part of “basic law enforcement functions.”
The spokesperson further added, “Unfortunately, the media outlet responsible for this piece didn’t feel compelled to shed light on facts, and instead chose to weave a salacious, fictitious tale.” And on Facebook, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office posted a lengthy attack on the paper and their report, along with the officers who gave statements about the program. The article by the paper revealed the disciplinary records of the officers who were quoted for the story. It mentioned that one got into trouble for lurking around a subordinate female officer’s home. Another was reported to have had sex with a confidential informant.
The Facebook post admitted that the sheriff’s office targeted people simply because of their criminal history, and explained that criminal history is sufficient evidence to start an investigation on the person. But this perspective is not shared by the courts, that don’t allow previous charges to be used as evidence in current criminal cases. And the fact is, the algorithm identified people for being a suspect in a crime, even if they were cleared and had the charges dropped. Others who scored high on the algorithm were people who appeared in at least five police reports, even if they were listed as a witness, or surprisingly, as the victim.
Even before the use of the algorithm, the sheriff’s office already focused on people who they considered to be criminals, no matter if they had already paid their debt to society. And if you think the sheriff’s office apologized to the people who were “harassed,” think again.”We will not apologize for continuing to keep our community safe,” the sheriff’s office was quoted as saying.
Definitely the sheriff’s office would do what they can to protect their integrity, and deny any wrongdoing. But surely their reputation has been tainted. Of course we should not generalize, as there are cops who really do a good job. It is sad that many are disgusted with the police force because of some errant elements. But, that is life.
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True Activist / Report a typo
