Santa Cruz Becomes First US City to Approve Ban on Predictive Policing

The use of predictive technology has correlated with some reductions in crime in cities that include Santa Cruz, California. However, even the Santa Cruz police chief said that the data-based technology more often leads to officer conflict with communities rather than collaboration. Critics say its use fosters law enforcement’s disproportionate impact on people of color, masking bias with data-based algorithms. The Santa Cruz City Council voted unanimously on June 23 to ban predictive policing—along with facial recognition technology—with support from a large coalition of civil liberty and racial justice groups. Read more about the ban, scheduled for final adoption on Aug. 11, here.