How open data can keep us safe

" ... Using Big Data and proprietary techniques developed by StreetCred, along with public information and court records, the company can prioritize for a local agency's fugitive and warrant division which fugitives they should go after and have the highest likelihood of success. It really is a fascinating business and you should check it out. But enough about Nick and StreetCred. How did these two murderers forge their court papers and walk out the front door of the jail? Nick says the problem isn't that the process is too open; in fact, it is just the opposite - it's is not open enough! There wasn't enough transparency in the whole process for the prison officials to follow the chain of events involved in the release and see if it was legitimate or not. Instead, they were presented with the end result - documents that appeared to be legitimate. Without the insight into the entire process, that was all they had to go on, so they let two murderers walk out the door. Nick laments what happened as a result of this, though. In typical knee jerk reaction, the system will be more closed instead of more open. They are just going to make it harder for people to be released even if they appear to have the right paperwork. All this is going to do is delay people who are rightfully entitled to be released to be set free. It is going to add hours and days of extra work to the process and waste untold millions of dollars. The right answer, according to Selby, is to make the whole process more open ..."