[Preprint] Legal Considerations on Predictive Policing Algorithms: Useful Opportunities but Significant Risks for Rights

Stefano Rossa, University of Eastern Piedmont, ItalyFollow

ORCID

Stefano Rossa – 0000-0002-2037-8102

Keywords

Predictive Policing, Digital Technology, Algorithms, AI, Machine Learning

Abstract

In Beck’s current risk society, the State is faced with a dilemma. To fail before the risk but to keep the sphere of citizens’ rights intact; or not to fail but to restrict fundamental rights? This payoff turns out to be the main issue that juridical reflections on the use of predictive technology tools in the public sector must consider. Policing is an administrative function that is mainly composed of acts of a preventive nature. By using ICT, it is possible to employ AI systems with a very high rate of certainty to ‘predict’ future crime scene. But is it possible to combine the use of such predictive systems with the protection of fundamental rights? The paper will attempt to answer this question by reconstructing the legal framework, investigating whether it is possible to use these tools enjoying their positive effects and reducing the risk of violating fundamental rights.

Acknowledgements

Funding

This article received no funding.

Declaration of Conflict of Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and publication of this article.

Declaration about the scope of AI utilisation

The author did not use artificial intelligence tools in the preparation of this article, except for the translation of the abstract into French.

Recommended Citation

Rossa, S. (2025). [Preprint] Legal Considerations on Predictive Policing Algorithms: Useful Opportunities but Significant Risks for Rights. Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, 18(32). https://doi.org/10.7172/1689-9024.YARS.2025.18.31.1

FINAL_Clean_Rossa_Legal Considerations on Predictive Policing.docx (70 kB)
Final version of the paper