Big data in criminal justice
The rising number of crimes occurrences is a challenging matter to both law enforcement and the police department which affects economic and cultural growth and personal safety levels. Big data has gained a lot of fame globally due to its rate of spread into almost all aspects of life. Business activities rely much on big data to increase its efficiency. Big data has penetrated the criminal justice system. Criminal justice is a wider category for implementing the law. Various lawyers are seen as one of the criminal justice system as well as local law implementing and various federal agencies like CIA and the FBI. Enforcing both local and international law is complicated since the world turns out to be a smaller place through peace pains and global trade organizations. Generally, big data technology enables current businesses in assembling data-based intuitions to obtain much more up-to-date choices. Also, big data helps in law enforcement agencies in lowering crime activities and increase social services. Furthermore, big data prevent fraudulent activities of all forms and improves global governance. Here we are going to dwell much on the big data on the criminal justice system.
Generally, fraudulent activities are expensive for both companies and consumers. The big data assist in pinpointing any doubtful activities earlier before happening. IBM, big data technologies clarifies on the working of data analytics in countering the frauds. The machine learning algorithms include the data in enhancing the fraudulent activity identification systems in curbing future fraudulent activities. This technology of detection by IBM has saved about $37 million under global money-transfer. The same analytics and algorithms apply to address cybersecurity. IT intrusions have become a challenge cybercrimes and this has made the network admins develop long logins to curb the incidents. The cybersecurity analytics are also vital in analyzing and correlating the data of malevolent activities. Besides, machine learning and predictive analytics algorithms grant the admins to solve the potential crimes earlier and fortify cyberinfrastructure.
Besides, big data enables the storing and retrieval of records when needed. Big data analytics easily finds and verifies within a very short time the posts made on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. With an increase in the digitalization of documents, big data importance grows and becomes necessary. Big data analytics software evaluates colossal quantities of data within a very short period. This, therefore, enables criminals who could have escaped to be arrested. In Colorado, for example, communities have installed license plate readers recording the numbers of the plate of all the vehicles passing that particular setting. The technology in this setting is effective due to the high number of crimes involving the vehicles. However, this technology is a challenge since it breaches privacy hence cybercriminals may obtain the data for their effective crime activities.
Also, big data analytics systems can link data points that are unrelated to the human eye. Prediction of how defendants behave in and after trials is possible for the algorithm. The algorithms have become crucial to various American jurisdictions. It compares the data concerning the defendant’s various past criminal acts where the courts are provided with the vital findings in making decisions to determine the bail or the sentence length.
With the availability of big data analytics software, some countries are using it to predict where the crimes might happen. This, therefore, helps in tightening the security at where it required. The rate of speed of data analytics software including the variety of avenues that law implementation officials have in the collection of the data creates an opportunity on accessing information efficiently than before. This speed will, therefore, lower the human resource mandate than the preceding methods.
Predictive policing makes use of statistical models in anticipating the risen risks of crimes, which is then monitored through various interventions to avert the anticipated crimes without being realized. Recently, the Miami Police Department is employing the incorporation of HunchLab, a predictive mapping tool meant to curb the various increased crime rates predicted to happen. The system was granted $600,000 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance for the implementations.
Big data correlate with a distinct criminal data set. With the help of big data tools stockpile the entire criminal cases already been determined by the detectives. The datasets can be retrieved in the future in associating the distinctive criminal sets of data to identify either criminal or crime. Besides, the said databases can be sieved in making decisions based on the evidence on any criminal case. Big data emerged from numerous social websites and online cybercriminal and this can be protected by the tools of big data for the future in identification or collection of facts in certain crimes. Also, big data-enabled in the identification of a mental state of a criminal through deposition of such crimes and mental state in the big data tools which is being stated in the future for adoption regarding crime’s cruelty and mental state.
Policing activities have advanced to a level of tracing suspected people who have committed a crime using DNA. Using DNA profiling intelligently it assist in convicting people involved in a severe crime or vindicates innocent people. DNA profile assembled from the scene of the crime is being compared with the DNA profiles of the entire suspects in finding the source. Some of the countries are now expanding the databases to include people who have committed minor crimes for the fear that they may commit severe crimes in the future. DNA database of the entire population in some countries has been proposed. Accessing of DNA samples discloses more thorough information about the health and the relatives of the person. Genealogy data also plays the role of data analytics in solving murder cases. DNA services and genealogy websites enable people to study deeply on the ancestry. The DNA information and data that are obtained from the website of genealogy are crucial in solving a decades-old murder.