CPT | slide 6

Communication analysis technologies

Police and corrections officials increasingly use algorithms to analyze written and spoken communications. These algorithms label a person’s emotional state based on things like the words they use, how their voice sounds and their body language.

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Communication analysis technologies

While there is no information about how widespread these technologies are, they can be used at various parts of systems of policing and punishment. Prison officials use sentiment analysis technology to search people’s phone calls and letters for supposed evidence of crime or possible suicide attempts; police investigators use it when monitoring social media to understand public opinion and search for apparent signs of crime; and attorneys use it to evaluate and select jurors. These algorithms are trained on text or speech data to identify language that the developers label as positive, negative or neutral in tone. Some algorithms go beyond this binary to calculate the supposed probability a given piece of communication exhibits other emotions and sentiments, as determined by developers.

For example, prison officials can use this technique to search inmates’ recorded phone conversations for certain keywords. That includes an algorithm that converts the inmates’ voice to text and then flags specific words or phrases of interest within the text. If officials are looking for signs of possible suicide attempts among inmates, for instance, they can automatically flag conversations containing words that developers have associated with suicide or self-harm based on training data. Communication monitoring is often used as evidence against people, and the receivers of prison communications (e.g., family members and friends) are also unknowingly subject to these invasive technologies.

See the appendix for more information.

Risk assessment technologies: case management, planning, and supervision in prison

In prison, case managers use RATs in evaluating incarcerated peoples’ needs and risks and in making decisions related to supervision and rehabilitation.

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Risk assessment technologies: case management, planning, and supervision in prison

When case managers estimate whether a person is at risk of being charged with misconduct while incarcerated or rearrested after leaving jail, they consider factors such as physical and mental health, records of substance abuse, education, housing situation and employment history. Some case managers rely on RAT risk scores to make those judgments.

See the appendix for more information.