Thread

500k facial scans at UK stations yield no arrests, 1 false positive

518 points · 305 comments · ilamont

benbristow · 1790684193 · focus · HN ↗
I've had an idea in the back of my head but I'm no businessman so have this one for free.
Build an AI model, train it from the catalogues of JD Sports and Sports Direct (and other brands like Stone Island etc.) and how to detect balaclavas, illegal electric bikes and e-scooters. Have it link to cameras and do a percentage chance using machine learning on chance of crime. Also increase the percentage if a 'wheely' is done (riding only on back wheel).
Would minority report the majority of crime in this country in one fell swoop.
Could call it ScroteScanner.
Some would call it discrimination but the majority of ASB I see around my area are people dressed/using those exact things.
If they start to catch-on (unlikely) then worse case we have a fancier looking society with gangsters in suits again.
1. Waterluvian · 1790684826 · focus · HN ↗
  They should just round up and imprison all the people who walk in my neighbourhood.
  Some would call it discrimination but the majority of people who commit crimes in my area are people who can walk. I rarely see the wheelchair crowd pulling off B&Es.
  Oh, or people who wear clothes. Criminals seem to like wearing clothes. Point proven: you never see nudists shoplifting Old Navy.
  1. benbristow · 1790685059 · focus · HN ↗
    People on illegal escooters or illegal electric bikes are already committing crimes, there's rarely a decent reason to be wearing a balaclava in the city.
    As I said, machine learning to take all these pointers into perspective.
    someonebaggy · 1790686045 · focus · HN ↗
    Is arresting someone for (what fact about?) their scooter actually making society better?
    Comments like these reinforce my belief that the UK is a panopticon because UK residents sincerely want one and not because the government is corrupt.
    benbristow · 1790686628 · focus · HN ↗
    Yes, they actively make public spaces unpleasant and dangerous. Town centres are on their knees as people don't want to go there anymore due to ASB like this.
    someonebaggy · 1790688664 · focus · HN ↗
    Wow! How bad does a scooter have to be for people to avoid the whole town center?
    benbristow · 1790688830 · focus · HN ↗
    It's not just them, you've got ebikes going 30mph, kids/teens congregating on bikes in balaclavas. Come look for yourself and see if you don't feel intimidated.
    someonebaggy · 1790690640 · focus · HN ↗
    Oh! I live somewhere like that. I just don't be intimidated by things unless I have a reason to be intimidated. Although scary looking people congregate sometimes, they've never actually harmed me so I don't avoid the whole area. And the few times I've ever interacted with a scary looking person, they were chill.
    Tendency to fear has to be one of those personality axes. Studies found that political conservatives have larger amygdala (the part of their brain that governs things like fear) so maybe this is something similar.
    its_ethan · 1790694870 · focus · HN ↗
    This is the mindset I'd expect from a toddler - "it hasn't happened to me yet so it's not a problem and people who think it is are overreacting".
    Should we also treat drinking and driving a no-big-deal thing since you haven't been affected by that either? Can you let us know what else your fellow countrymen are doing wrong in your estimation, based on your own narrow slice of lived experiences?
    Can you really not put yourself in the shoes of, say, a young woman walking home in the dark feeling intimidated by a group of men wearing masks? Like it takes half a second of self-reflection and critical thinking to come up with a very believable, commonly occurring scenario that would lead to someone thinking differently than you. Give it a try sometime.
    Another user a level up in this thread has also linked articles to 2 hospitalizations and a dead dog that are the result of e-bikes being used in places they're prohibited, so clearly it's an issue that needs addressing. Being smarmy and self-aggrandizing about it is a really bad look for you.
    someonebaggy · 1790699744 · focus · HN ↗
    > "it hasn't happened to me yet so it's not a problem and people who think it is are overreacting".
    I've never been attacked by a ghost-possessed toothbrush but I still avoid the toothbrush aisle just in case. It's a real problem. I'm not overreacting.
    its_ethan · 1790715617 · focus · HN ↗
    Thanks for doubling down on being facetious and making me feel better that I didn't just jump to conclusions about you, and that I made the right assumptions lol
    cguess · 1790691701 · focus · HN ↗
    AH! THE YOUTH!
    pjc50 · 1790691333 · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/police-report-three-surron-style-electric-motorbikes-involved-in-edinburgh-hit-and-run-8746045" rel="nofollow">https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/police-report-th... (hospitalized woman)
    <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/uk/edinburgh-evening-news/20260905/281509348060994" rel="nofollow">https://www.pressreader.com/uk/edinburgh-evening-news/202609... (killed dog)
    <a href="https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/edinburgh-motorist-chases-e-bike-33862396" rel="nofollow">https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/edinburg...
    <a href="https://news.stv.tv/east-central/schoolboy-charged-and-teens-traced-after-illegal-off-road-bike-use-and-fire-raising-in-edinburgh" rel="nofollow">https://news.stv.tv/east-central/schoolboy-charged-and-teens...
    <a href="https://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2025/04/28/police-scotland-give-update-on-e-bike-patrols-after-spate-of-incidents-in-city/" rel="nofollow">https://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2025/04/28/police-scotland-gi... (hospitalized kid)
    All fun and games until someone gets seriously injured or their dog killed. I had a run-in a couple of years ago with some kids on a motorbike trying (unsuccessfully) to knock me off my pedal bike.
    someonebaggy · 1790694784 · focus · HN ↗
    And the problem with this is that the scooter doesn't have a license plate, is it?
    pjc50 · 1790695626 · focus · HN ↗
    That enables the hit-and-run incidents. The whole point of making vehicles have license plates in the first place is traceability for criminal and civil liability for injury or damage.
    someonebaggy · 1790699681 · focus · HN ↗
    Has anyone with a license plate ever hit and ran?
    deadbunny · 1790697523 · focus · HN ↗
    Most town centres are 90% boarded up forgotten realms. They have been in decline for decades, blaming it on people riding e-scooters and illegal e-motorcycles is laughable.
    benbristow · 1790725882 · focus · HN ↗
    It's a catch-22. They're boarded up realms because even after the online shopping revolution and attempts to regenerate them people don't want to go because they're full of deadbeats and ASB. Who would want to open a business there? For christ sake our local McDonalds is now playing Mozart at full blast in the evening outside to try and keep the ferral youth away as it's in the bang center and a popular hangout spot. It's somewhat working to an extent, but they're still around.
    There's going to be a generation of ex-youths nostalgic for Mozart from their days hanging around McDonald's - I'd get shares in Classic FM if you've got money.

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