Using societal impact assessment (SIA) to improve technological development in the field of crime prevention

Abstract

Geographical information systems (GIS), intelligence-led policing, and automation of border controls are approaches to crime prevention heavily reliant on technology as a fix for faster data gathering and processing. This paper proposes a four-part societal impact assessment (SIA) methodology as a means of accounting for the impacts of crime prevention technologies from the standpoints of desirability, acceptability, ethics, and data management. The paper provides empirical material in two short cases on crime-mapping and automated border control.