Critiques

The previous chapter examined the findings of literature reviews and reported the main recommendations of guides that tended towards optimistic views of the benefits of EI systems. The present chapter reviews studies that take a more critical view across a range of criteria. The majority, however, focus on the identification component of an EI system rather than interventions or subsequent changes in behaviour. The first study covered raised the potential problem, noted earlier in the book, that systems can target more active officers. This can be unfair, and also unproductive in potentially curtailing the work of more assertive police. Problems have also been raised with the focus on individual behaviour at the expense of management-oriented, system-wide, issues that contribute to police-citizen conflict. Other studies again have criticized the failure of EI systems to adopt new technologies and make use of data from sources such as police body-worn cameras. Despite these criticisms, the studies in this chapter are generally inclined to the view that EI systems have a great deal of potential to improve police conduct subject to various modifications, including, in some cases, the application of “machine learning”.