The Rise of Algorithms in the Criminal Justice System

The use of algorithms, especially intelligent ones, promises to foster innovation, efficiency, and effectiveness in policing and criminal justice. In an attempt to satisfy an increased desire for security and zero tolerance in this field, jurisdictions all over the globe are starting to deploy algorithms to support processes in police work, criminal legal proceedings, and ultimately, the execution of imposed sanctions. Methods of predictive policing have evoked an especially sensational new paradigm, relying on the assumption that crimes are subject to statistical regularities. Algorithms promise to calculate offenses at time X and place Y, or predict at what probability person Z is likely to commit a crime. With such tools rapidly being disseminating, a “smart criminal justice” has begun to emerge.