> Residents of neighborhoods where PredPol suggested few patrols tended to be Whiter and more middle- to upper-income
Is this bias in predicting crime though? Or just fits into overall, societal structures where middle- to upper- income neighborhoods report fewer crimes? There’s certainly systemic reasons for why this is, but if the goal of a crime predictor is to predict crimes; and if bias means an inaccuracy then this may not be bias.
If a city has limited patrol resources, is it fair to send them equally to rich and poor neighborhoods?
Obviously, we need to work to remove the underlying reasons causing higher crime for race, ethnicity, and other factors that have systemic bias against those groups. I’m not sure if low income populations will ever commit the same crimes as high income populations as poverty seems to be a big driver to crime. Our resources are likely better spent to eliminating poverty.
Is this bias in predicting crime though? Or just fits into overall, societal structures where middle- to upper- income neighborhoods report fewer crimes? There’s certainly systemic reasons for why this is, but if the goal of a crime predictor is to predict crimes; and if bias means an inaccuracy then this may not be bias.
If a city has limited patrol resources, is it fair to send them equally to rich and poor neighborhoods?
Obviously, we need to work to remove the underlying reasons causing higher crime for race, ethnicity, and other factors that have systemic bias against those groups. I’m not sure if low income populations will ever commit the same crimes as high income populations as poverty seems to be a big driver to crime. Our resources are likely better spent to eliminating poverty.