
Predictive policing has prejudice built in
For many years, successive governments have invested in data-driven and data-based systems, stating they will increase public safety – yet individual police forces and Home Office evaluations have found no compelling evidence that these systems have had any impact on reducing crime.
Feedback loops are created by training these systems using historically discriminatory data, which leads to the same areas being targeted once again. These systems are neither revelatory nor objective. They merely subject already marginalised communities to compounded discrimination. They aren't predictive at all, they are predictable – and dangerous.Ilyas NagdeeAmnesty International UK
The 2002 movie Minority Report was about a police unit that arrested people before they could commit crimes. Science fiction may be coming true. The unit's head, played by Tom Cruise, was accused of 'future murder' and had to go on the run. As we are finding out with AI tools, these programs have built-in limitations and errors.Bruce HigginsSan Diego, California, US
Reading about the government's 'sharing data to improve risk assessment' project calls to mind the Thought Police in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.Geoff WalmsleyWirral, Merseyside
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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The Albanian small boat migrant who flooded the streets with crack cocaine after boasting about how easy it was to sneak into Britain
An Albanian small boat migrant began dealing crack cocaine after fleeing his luxury asylum hotel. Elvis Zoto, 22, gloated on social media about entering the UK illegally and even posted a photo of his Home Office registration form showing his arrival in Dover in 2022. Approached shortly afterwards by a Mail on Sunday reporter posing as migrant still in France, he said the journey to the UK had been easy, and revealed he had already fled his asylum hotel by climbing out of a window. Shocking new details about his case have now emerged in a High Court judgment that finally gave the green light to his deportation - a whole three years after he first arrived in Britain. Campaigners said his case is the latest evidence of the 'desperate' need to reform the immigration system. Zoto flew from Albania to Belgium before travelling by train to France. He then paid a people smuggler to get him on a small boat to Britain, where he was detained by Border Force at Dover on June 29, 2022. More than 12,600 Albanians came to Britain on small boats in 2022 before a returns agreement slashed this number. At the time, the National Crime Agency (NCA) warned that Albanian drug gangs were using the route to bring workers into the UK. In common with most Albanian small boat arrivals at the time, Zoto claimed asylum and was put up in a hotel, the four-star Crowne Plaza in Basingstoke. At his initial interview, Zoto claimed he had left Albania after being forced to deal drugs. He later claimed to be a victim of human trafficking. However, the Albanian only stayed at the Crowne Plaza for two days before fleeing on July 2 as part of a pre-planned escape. Asylum seekers are required to maintain contact with the Home Office as part of their release and to inform the authorities of any new address. The Home Office drafted a letter to Zoto stating that his decision to leave the hotel meant his asylum claim was considered 'implicitly withdrawn', but this was not sent because they did not know where he lived. Court documents state there is 'no evidence' officials tried to contact him by any other method - despite having his Albanian phone number. It appears Zoto quickly linked up with a drug gang, and on November 1, 2023, he was arrested by Essex Police after a stop and search. The following April, he was convicted of dealing crack cocaine and sentenced to two years and nine months in prison. Criminals who receive a custodial sentence of over a year automatically face deportation, but Zoto won the right to challenge the decision on the basis he still had a pending asylum claim and a hearing took place in July 2025. But his appeal was dismissed in a judgment issued on Wednesday by High Court judge Claire Padley, who backed the Home Office's claim that Zoto had forfeited his right to claim asylum by escaping his hotel. Zoto had a conditional release date of December 2024. The Mail has asked the Home Office where he is now and when he will be deported but has not received a response. Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, told the Daily Mail: 'Three years on from making his way here illegally in a small boat, Zoto is finally to be deported. 'He should have been refused entry and removed within hours of reaching the UK. A system that allows such a chancer to string it out for three years, at huge cost to the taxpayer, is clearly in desperate need of reform.' A video posted on Zoto's TikTok social media account shortly after he fled his asylum hotel showed him sitting outside a cafe on a busy London street. The video was accompanied by laughing emojis. Separate images showed him posing with huge wads of £20 and £50 banknotes. Asked by the undercover Mail on Sunday reporter posing as a migrant about the dangers of the cross-Channel crossing, Zoto said: 'Do not be scared of it. I arrived on a boat. A journey that doesn't need a lot of money and the best for you.' In a later message, he added: 'They keep you in detention a maximum of two days, then send you to a hotel. In the detention centre it's good conditions. 'You tell them you are married and that's the end of the story. You have to get away from the hotel and just wait for your relatives to get you in a car. 'I left from the window of that hotel... I disappeared... Keep a low profile and after a month get a solicitor.' Small boat migrants have regularly documented their crossings on social media. One, Parwiz Hanifyar, gained nearly one million views for this a 'step by step' guide on entering Britain illegally. The Afghan, who left Calais at around 4am last Saturday, shared videos of himself on the small boat before live streaming from an asylum hotel. It later emerged he had been reported to police for allegedly sharing another clip telling men how to kill their estranged wives. In a video filmed in Germany last month, Hanifyar is claimed to have said: 'A brave man does not allow his wife to marry another man, even have children and live with someone else.' He is now staying in a taxpayer-funded hotel near Heathrow. More than 27,000 small boat migrants have arrived so far in 2025 – a record for this point in the year since data began in 2018. On Wednesday, a record 107 small boat migrants have reached Britain in just one dinghy, confounding Labour's pledge to 'smash the gangs'. The use of bigger migrant boats will be of deep concern to British officials, who have ploughed significant resources into attempts to disrupt traffickers' supplies.


The Guardian
14 hours ago
- The Guardian
Judge urged to shut down hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping
A high court judge has been asked to shut down a hotel housing asylum seekers amid concerns about violence and disorder seen at far-right protests at the site. The local council applied for an urgent injunction against the owners of the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex, that would immediately prevent them housing asylum seekers – having repeatedly called on the Home Office to close it down. A series of protests have occurred since an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl in July. A second asylum seeker has since been charged with sexual assault. During a hearing before Mr Justice Eyre on Friday, Epping district council's lawyer Philip Coppel KC said the site had ceased to be used as a hotel – its 'sole lawful use'. This, he argued, was a 'clear breach' of planning law. He also cited the concerns of local residents, as well as the safety of the asylum seekers themselves among the justifications for an immediate ban. The hotel's owners argued the planning issue was central – and was insufficient to justify the 'exceptional step' of an immediate interim injunction. It could be dealt with via conventional enforcement action or at a final injunction hearing, they argued. Piers Riley-Smith, representing Somani Hotels, argued asylum seekers had been housed at the Bell for about a year and a half without issue – with problems only arising recently. He told the court: 'In reality, this is an injunction by the council against the [recent] protests and the civil unrest. The council has targeted the wrong institution.' Coppel claimed the placement of asylum seekers put the local community at 'enhanced risk'. He said the alleged sexual offences took place close to the hotel – and that there were schools welcoming about 1,800 children in similar proximity. 'Having this sort of thing go on, with such a concentration of schools, with no measures to stop a repetition is not acceptable. That risk is needs to be removed … parents have the well-founded apprehension that the continued placement of asylum seekers at the Bell hotel represents a risk to those students.' Coppel said the asylum seekers themselves were not safe. 'The occupants, some of whom are vulnerable, are being housed in circumstances that can be described as intimidating. It is the last thing they need.' Riley-Smith said his client believed local residents' concerns were genuine. He said: 'It is clear recent protests have expanded far beyond the local community and have gone into concerns about wider ideological or political issues.' He argued that, if there were an urgent need to remove the asylum seekers and return the site to a conventional hotel because of fears about criminality, it would need to be shown the average asylum seeker has a greater propensity to commit crime than the average hotel guest. There was no such evidence, Riley-Smith told the court. Moreover, he said, were protests to be used as a reason to grant an urgent injunction against housing asylum seekers, this could be repeated at any place being used to welcome them across the country. Mr Justice Eyre reserved judgment until next Tuesday and ordered the hotel's owners not to take in any new asylum seekers before then.


Scottish Sun
20 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Map reveals the UK's top scam hotspots – is your area being targeted by fraudsters?
Check out our interactive map to find out if your area is on the list CON CAPITAL Map reveals the UK's top scam hotspots – is your area being targeted by fraudsters? Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) The UK's scam hotspots have been revealed, as a whopping four in 10 Brits admit they have never recovered money stolen by fraudsters. AI scams (including deepfake videos) and fake concert tickets were voted as some of the most common ways people experienced fraud, in a new survey by Yaspa. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 AI and concert ticket scams are among the most popular ways fraudsters steal cash As AI technology continues to improve, there has been an increase in scammers posing as celebs, and fleecing well-meaning Brits out of cash. Back in June, the Home Office revealed that a whopping £1.6million was lost by Brits getting scammed out of concert tickets in 2024. Thousands of Oasis fans reported a surge in scams, after the legendary band announced their long awaited reunion tour last year. Online shopping and Facebook marketplace scams were also cited as some of the most prevalent incidences of fraud. The survey reveals that London is top of the list of fraud hotspots, with a whopping 41% of residents surveyed reporting being victims of scams in the last 12 months. Second on the list is Manchester, where 40% revealed they had been targeted by scammers. Nottingham takes the 3rd spot, with 39% of respondents reporting being victims of scams. Rounding off the top five, 38% of people in both Cardiff and Bristol reported incidents with fraudsters. The survey also revealed that, shockingly, only 19% of victims were able to fully recover 100% of what was lost to scams. The average amount that Brits reported losing was a whopping £765, with the average amount returned at just 34%. WhatsApp bans MILLIONS of users in major crackdown amid safety alert Although AI is making it easier than ever for scammers to exploit people, 75% of Brits believe they are "confident" enough to spot fraud in action. Sarah Ahle, Head of Compliance & Deputy MLRO at Yaspa said: "Worrying about money and financial stress can be all-consuming, even at the best of times, but if you've ever been a victim of fraud or have lost money that you need to get through the month to crime, this feeling can be overwhelming. 'Being able to spot the red flags of a typical scam or being aware of more secure payment methods over others can be vital and easy to learn steps in stopping criminals from getting their hands on your money.' Top 10 scam hotspots Percentage of people who claimed to have been victim on a scam in the last 12 months 1. London 41% 40% 3. Nottingham 39% 4. Cardiff 38% 30% 37% 7. Bristol 34% 8. Liverpool 35% 9. Leeds 30% 10. Belfast 29% Source: Yaspa How to spot scammers Consumer rights expert Martyn James revealed to Yaspa his top tips for protecting yourself against scams.