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Chicago PD Predictive Policing: "Heat List"
This article tells the story of how the implementation of predictive analytics used by the Chicago Police Department directly targeted, and affected the life of, Chicago native Robert McDaniel.
The Strategic Subject List (SSL), known colloquially as the "Chicago Heat List," was a mechanism used by the CPD to identify possible victims or perpetrators that would likely be a party to violence. The "Heat List" was predicated on a compilation of data that focused on an individual's proximity to gun-based violence and their relationships with known shooters and shooting casualties within the city.
On an ordinary weekday in mid-2013, McDaniel received a knock at his front-door and was confronted by CPD personnel. The CPD told McDaniel that he was more likely than 99.9 percent of Chicago's population to either be shot or to have a shooting connected to him. This interaction catalyzed a series of events which had devastating consequences for McDaniel.
While Chicago law enforcement eliminated the "Heat List" program in 2019, the CPD still utilizes place-based predictive policing algorithms.
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