Detecting Criminal Gangs Using Mobile Phone Data

You have to hand it to the researchers at Indiana University, using call records to map hierarchies and connections within gangs is a pretty damn good idea.

Criminal networks are just as social as friendship or business networks. So the same techniques that can tease apart the links between our friends and colleagues should also work for thieves, drug dealers, and organized crime in general. The new platform, called LogAnalysis, gives a unique insight into the make up a criminal organization. “It allows forensic investigators to deeply understand hierarchies within criminal organizations, discovering members who play central role and provide connection among sub-groups,” they say.

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Shame no one can win at Wheel of Fortune from IU.

This + FBI's new facial recognition DB = awesome

I'd say did a super giant pit somewhere, throw all the gangs in and watch them kill each other. When it's done shoot the stragglers and cover up the pit. The world has just become a better place.

Been hearing about this stuff for a while. Pretty interesting.

Great way to find an hunt down any organized opposition to the government. Coming Age of Eternal Serfdom gets a +1.

Unlike Google's spying and mining, this is actually a good way to use cell phones to keep track of people doing bad things. I'd like to see it implemented on a national scale for law enforcement.

Mike89 said:

I'd say did a super giant pit somewhere, throw all the gangs in and watch them kill each other. When it's done shoot the stragglers and cover up the pit. The world has just become a better place.

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Do the same to the government.

They have been doing this since before 1990. At least interpol had a program and were doing it with land lines as well as data from their own databases.

Mike89 said:

I'd say did a super giant pit somewhere, throw all the gangs in and watch them kill each other. When it's done shoot the stragglers and cover up the pit. The world has just become a better place.

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I would support this cause. Gangs are a puss on the community. They are trash. Get rid of them.

CreepyUncleGoogle said:

Unlike Google's spying and mining, this is actually a good way to use cell phones to keep track of people doing bad things. I'd like to see it implemented on a national scale for law enforcement.

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Yea, but who do you tag for the bad guys? Do you just get everyone then sort it out? Or do you wait until there is a criminal investigation then go for those few that are known to be committing crimes and you wait to catch them so they can take you to Mr. Big?

Mike89 said:

I'd say did a super giant pit somewhere, throw all the gangs in and watch them kill each other. When it's done shoot the stragglers and cover up the pit. The world has just become a better place.

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That's called the formation of government. Most of the big gangs are merely the reaction to the governments in place losing control of a population by failing to provide what they want.

raz-0 said:

That's called the formation of government. Most of the big gangs are merely the reaction to the governments in place losing control of a population by failing to provide what they want.

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They must be different where you are at... Unless people want drugs, money, spray painting, cars, etc. without working for it.

That's called the formation of government. Most of the big gangs are merely the reaction to the governments in place losing control of a population by failing to provide what they want.

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Oh, so gangs are a bi-product of liberal policies, true conservative policies wouldn't leave the people thinking the government should be doing anything for them to begin with right?

It's finding out who's a gang member that's a problem first, then you can monitor their phone traffic, not so difficult with the dullards that tat themselves up and have their home town written across their face, or the area code, it's the organized crime gangs you need to worry about, they deliberately avoid drawing attention to themselves like Triads, Yakuza, even the mafia groups that expanded out from Russia and the surrounding countries that were under soviet rule.

It really is not hard to figure out who gang members are without the need to use phone meta-data. The fact our policing force has become so reliant on data and less reliant on actual police work is pretty gross to me. If they used the technology to reduce the police force I would be for it, however, they will likely use the data to justify more police to combat.

We have way too many policing forces in the US and it needs to be reduced dramatically in order to stop the erosion of privacy and rights. The organization these policing forces needs to be simplified as well by removing redundant agencies like the FBI, DEA, ATF, Secret Service, ect into one or two organizations which reduces costs by eliminating all the redundant positions in them. And I wont mention the drug war that has cost countless lives around the world and just needs to end now.

Warstopper said:

It really is not hard to figure out who gang members are without the need to use phone meta-data. The fact our policing force has become so reliant on data and less reliant on actual police work is pretty gross to me. If they used the technology to reduce the police force I would be for it, however, they will likely use the data to justify more police to combat.

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We need more police, not less and people aren't responsible enough to have rights without something hanging over them instilling fear of the consequences.

We have way too many policing forces in the US and it needs to be reduced dramatically in order to stop the erosion of privacy and rights. The organization these policing forces needs to be simplified as well by removing redundant agencies like the FBI, DEA, ATF, Secret Service, ect into one or two organizations which reduces costs by eliminating all the redundant positions in them. And I wont mention the drug war that has cost countless lives around the world and just needs to end now.

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I think those organizations are a little bit redundant and maybe merging some of them together would make sense, but not keeping their missions and stuff divided might cause other problems when one organization or another has, maybe, law enforcement functions that are too broad and far-reaching. Keeping limited authority and divisions is a good idea.

As for rights...Enforcement of laws, creation of communities, even parents raising kids end up using fear to make males behave properly. If people can't even come to a complete stop at an intersection, use their turn signal, and then not drive away without trying to make their car tires squeak or something, then they aren't responsible enough to handle having any sort of freedom of action. It's mostly guys that are like that and I get it that's less than half of the US, but that still a lot of people that shouldn't have rights and should live in constant fear.

raz-0 said:

That's called the formation of government. Most of the big gangs are merely the reaction to the governments in place losing control of a population by failing to provide what they want.

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Governments are the evolution of Gangs. You belong to a gang so you don't get run over by neighboring gangs and hopefully you give up less as a result. Governments are the same, you belong to one so the neighboring mega-gangs (governments) don't rape your ass.