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Racial profiling methods may be flawed

Nature (2009)Cite this article

Screening by ethnicity could be allowing more criminals to slip through the net.

Singling out individuals for surveillance, investigation or screening on the basis of their race or nationality is probably useless for catching those engaged in or planning criminal acts. That is the conclusion of a computer scientist who has exposed the basic mathematical flaw in this approach to crime prevention.

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References

  1. Press, W. H. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 1716-1719 (2009).

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  2. Harcourt, B. E. Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing, and Punishing in an Actuarial Age (University of Chicago Press, 2006).

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Authors
  1. Philip Ball
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Ball, P. Racial profiling methods may be flawed. Nature (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2009.73

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2009.73

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