I'm happy to see this, but it's not really going to stop the inevitable rise of the police state. They _will_ find other methods that aren't using facial recognition technology. I hear that gait recognition is quite accurate.
No, because estimating anthropometry is not gait analysis. It's about working out the relative lengths of your skeletal structure, which is unique in every individual and cannot be concealed by movement.
Start walking barefoot maybe? You'll stop heel striking and will likely change gait completely. People will also start to think you're loony too, which has it's ups and downs.
There is no police state in SF. It is quite the opposite. Crime is rampant and criminals know the police don't bother going after non-life threatening crimes (e.g., car break-ins are rampant all over the Bay Area now).
I for one prefer the rise of the police state.
Have you been to China lately? Amazingly safe. Never once seen a broken car window anywhere there. There is no such thing as smash-and-grab there anymore and carjackings are unheard of. Used to be a lot of petty crime, not anymore. Cameras are everywhere in big cities. It is safe for any attractive young female to walk out on the streets at midnight there.
They use face-recognition technology heavily and catch criminals with the help of it.
I dream of the day law enforcement in the U.S. can link up to Facebook and find the real identities of criminals caught on video. Sadly I don't think that day will ever come. Or maybe in other states but definitely not in California. Crime fighting in California is still stuck in the 80s.
CHP actively scanning the highways for stolen plates using OCR readers? Technically possible but not happening (not sure why).
Police departments linking up to facebook to find thieves caught on 1080p video? Possible but not happening (not legally allowed?).
> I for one prefer the rise of the police state. Have you been to China lately? Amazingly safe.
So is the US. Meanwhile, China is already using their facial recognition technology to track ethnic and religious minorities and is currently "holding as many as a million of them in detention camps" [1]. We have already seen the US government move in a decidedly nationalistic direction over the past few years. Begging for a police state in the name of diminishing returns on security is playing with fire, and we do not need to look far back into the history of the US or Europe to see where that can lead.
> Have you been to China lately? Amazingly safe. Never once seen a broken car window anywhere there. There is no such thing as smash-and-grab there anymore and carjackings are unheard of. Used to be a lot of petty crime, not anymore. Cameras are everywhere in big cities. It is safe for any attractive young female to walk out on the streets at midnight there.
This is basically true in 99% of the US as well. Not really sure what you're trying to say here.
The rest of your comment basically sounds like, "Fuck civil rights."
An authoritarian state like China's is primed for tyranny. They're already tyrannical to a large degree, but they are unrestricted in their capacity to become far worse. Being enamored of the actions of a benevolent authoritarian is a short term trap. Tens of millions of people's lives were lost last century as a consequence of power ceded to the state.
> I would expect property crime to correlate with wealth generally, ie, where there's... more property.
This is obviously not true. Wealthy neighborhoods have far less crime.
The point is that because of the policies of SF to go easy on theft, but go hard on violence, causes a lot of theft.
This doesn't just hurt wealthy people, but anyone who owns anything worth stealing, which in turn hurts any poor people trying to make their way out of the gutter.
If they had their police enforce against both types of crime, SF wouldn't look as third worldish as it now does, with lawless shanty towns surrounding ultra rich, well protected areas. You've probably never lived in a very poor neighborhood, but I have. In my experience those that aren't involved in criminal activity, and are trying to get into a better situation want police presence. They want crackdown on crime, because people just trying to live their lives in these neighborhoods these are the ones that these crimes hurt the most.
This blindeye'd activism which prevents the rule of law in poor areas causes the very same hopeless conditions they are rallying against.
You have a reason to think unreported crime is higher in S.F. than other places? Which is what would make comparative crime statistics inaccurate for S.F.? An evidence-based reason?
Anyone being harmed by violence is too many people, anywhere. I'm sorry if you have been harmed by violence in SF. But in America, it's the safety and comfort of those who are already most safe and comfortable that are prioritized, and the most safe and comfortable believe this is their right. In America, we can't distinguish discomfort from threats to safety.
S.F. is in fact much safer than many many American cities. Deal with it. (And the wealthy are in fact safer than the poor in almost any city).
You want to see a police force that really can't be trusted to do anything about anything, and is engaged in rampant criminality on top of that, plus routine violations of the constitution, come visit Baltimore. Not saying the SF police are "good", I don't think any police are, but you don't have it especially bad in SF. Maybe you don't call the police because you don't think it will accomplish anything -- do you know how many people in the USA don't call the police because they think the police may further victimize them? Probably some in S.F. too, depending on who they are...
The problem with this line of thinking is that you can't "put the toothpaste back in the tube". You might trust the authorities now, but once you give them the kind of technology that allows them to do the things you describe, they have that technology forever. Sooner or later, someone who you don't like will assume power, and may use that same technology against you or those you care about, in ways you haven't anticipated.
I'm not saying the technology wouldn't be amazingly useful in fighting the multiple rampant problems happening in SF (God I wish it were that easy, there is quite a lot I despise about living in SF). But the long-term impact of doing so would be unpredictable at best and catastrophic at worst.
Democracies operate in small steps rather than broad strokes like totalitarian states.