Technology, Criminality and Law Enforcement in Pre-Crime Society

2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K20691
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
• Principal Investigator: MANTELLO Peter・A 立命館アジア太平洋大学, アジア太平洋学部, 教授 (10454977)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: surveillance / technology / criminality / policing / security / computation / prediction / analytics

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

Completed desktop analysis of major works and mapped the ecology of predictive policing technologies in Europe, Japan, and North America. Concomitantly, I also surveyed the emerging role and importance of predictive policing technologies in border security, national security and importantly, cyber security. Specifically, I investigated the potential risks of large language models (chatbots) being used by criminal organizations such as the rising use of Deep Fakes and Voice Fakes in crimes involving identity theft. I conducted interviews with the Interpol agency located in Thailand and persons working under the Royal Thai Police Department who are actively using computational methods for criminal investigations. Some of the spokespersons for Interpol and the Royal Thai Police Department included senior Interpol Officers such as Nat Chavanich and Niyom Saleh Kaseng. I also spent time interviewing law enforcement stakeholders who I met at several conferences and forums such as the AI forum in Brussels and the EU CyberCrime Forum in Prague which were related to the growing threat of the malicious use of AI. During this period I was able to network and make contacts that will assist with my research in FY2023.

Current Status of Research Progress

3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.

Reason

The research was slightly delayed because of COVID restrictions which curtailed many aspects of my research project including interviews with prominent/key stakeholders in Europe, the United States, and Canada, archival research at some key libraries which were closed because of COVID (especially, in the United States) and other organizations such as NGOs, civil liberty organizations, and privacy groups. Besides this, I was unable to conduct the citizen workshops which are an important centerpiece of my research project.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

The plans are to complete the rest of my interviews with law enforcement agents and spokespersons. Visit start-ups and legacy companies in Europe, the United States, and Canada that are using predictive policing/suspicious AI technologies. Finish interviews with non-government agencies, civil liberty organizations, and privacy groups who are critical of predictive policing technologies. Also, I intend to conduct a sentiment analysis of predictive policing surveillance technologies used for social media. Moreover, I will conduct a series of citizen workshops with ordinary citizens in the United States to gauge their perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about the prospects of predictive policing becoming a new normal in modern-day society. Thus, FY2023 will be focused on completing many of the work packages that were originally slated for FY2022.

Causes of Carryover

Because of COVID, many of the planned research activities and interviews and many of the institutions I was supposed to visit had to be postponed. Thus, research plans initially slated for FY2022 such as interviews, archival research, and citizen workshops will be done in FY2023. Planned work includes the completion of field research in the United States, Canada, and Europe (places where COVID was the most severe). This includes final interviews with key stakeholders including privacy groups, data privacy NGOS, as well as media pundits and scholars. Completion of site visits to predictive policing vendors and proof of concept demos in the United States. Conducting citizen workshops in the US.