Google execs propose crowd sourcing to fight crime

In an interesting although somewhat convoluted column in today's Washington Post, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen of Google propose a dual-crowd-sourcing technical solution to drug-related crime in Juarez. Having recently visited the city, they describe it as overwhelmed by crime with citizens overwhelmed by fear.

Schmidt and Cohen describe the traditional pre-Internet way in which citizens and governments interact: information is telephonic or broadcast, with citizens who report crime readily identifiable and subject to retribution. “In Juarez, we saw fearful human beings—sources—who need to get their information into the right hands,” they write.

They also offer an alternative: “With our packet-switching mind-set, we realized that there may be a technological workaround to the fear: Sources don’t need to physically turn to corrupt authorities, distant journalists or diffuse nonprofits, and rely on their hope that the possible benefit is worth the risk of exposing themselves.”

They call what they are proposing “dual crowdsourcing,” with citizens anonymously passing incident awareness upwards and officials responding downwards, “nearly in real time.”

Schmidt and Cohen are cryptic on how such a system would be implemented or what specific tools it would involve, but they conclude, “In a world where cartels and criminals are masters of innovation, technology companies can tip the scales over the long run, helping to provide an innovation advantage to those who need it most.”