"What would it be like if you knew in advance what was going to happen? How safe would life be if the police knew everything in advance and could prevent all forms of crime? Society would be completely different. The power of the police force can be increased by focusing on predictive policing. This is a chance that we, the police, must not miss out on.
It will be a challenge to implement this promising research with the right guarantees. Its introduction demands not only new people and new technologies; there are also ethical and organisational challenges that deserve our attention. Is it possible to predict crime? Can crime be recognised in its early stages? What role does technology play in all this? It is to this type of questions that this book tries to provide answers. This is an initial attempt to explain the topic of predictive policing in a Dutch context. Is the crystal ball of the police reliable (enough)? Initial exploratory thoughts on an emerging phenomenon."