Rethinking Crime, Technology, and Justice

There is growing frustration with the limits of modern criminal justice systems. Serious crimes—especially murders and missing person cases—are still sometimes unsolved, while others lead to controversial or wrongful convictions. High-profile cases such as the Garlasco case in Italy, the long investigation into Yara Gambirasio’s murder, and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann highlight how complex and uncertain real investigations can be.

This raises an important question: could technology fundamentally improve how we prevent and solve crimes?

The Idea: A Universal Safety Device

One proposal discussed is a wearable device—such as a ring—that could activate in emergencies. In theory, it could:

• Record audio and video during dangerous situations

• Track GPS location

• Capture forensic evidence from aggressors

• Help reconstruct events more accurately

The motivation is clear: reduce reliance on memory, delay, or incomplete evidence. If every critical moment were recorded, fewer cases would depend on guesswork.

The Reality Check: Practical and Ethical Limits

While the idea is powerful, it faces major challenges.

Even if a device is user-controlled, emergencies are difficult to define. Many violent events happen too quickly for manual activation. If the system becomes automatic, it risks turning into constant surveillance.

Any system storing sensitive personal recordings would need extremely strong protections. If hacked or misused, it could create serious harm.

Audio, video, and GPS tracking are increasingly practical—but automatic DNA collection is not currently feasible. DNA evidence requires controlled, physical sampling and strict legal handling procedures.

Children and GPS Tracking: Could It Have Helped?

It’s natural to think that cases like Madeleine McCann’s disappearance might have been solved if a child had been wearing a GPS tracker.

In some scenarios, it could have helped:

• Providing last-known location data

• Narrowing search areas

• Speeding up early investigations

However, there are limits:

• Devices can be removed or destroyed quickly

• Batteries and signal coverage are not guaranteed

• Many critical incidents unfold too fast for tracking to fully capture what happened

So while useful, GPS is not a complete solution.

The Bigger Idea: Why Prediction Doesn’t Fully Work

Another concept is a “Minority Report”-style system that predicts crimes before they happen. While AI can identify risk patterns and hotspots, it cannot reliably predict individual actions.

Human behaviour is too unpredictable, and false predictions can lead to serious harm:

• Innocent people may be wrongly flagged

• Predictions can influence behaviour (self-fulfilling outcomes)

• Justice systems risk punishing intent instead of action

For these reasons, true crime prediction remains scientifically and ethically out of reach.

A More Realistic Future: Layered Justice Systems

Instead of one all-powerful device or predictive system, the most realistic improvements come from combining multiple approaches:

• Faster forensic response teams at crime scenes

• Better integration of CCTV, digital, and forensic data

• Strong safeguards against wrongful convictions

• Improved recording of police and legal processes

• Voluntary, emergency-only wearable safety tools

• Privacy-preserving public safety technology

Conclusion: Balancing Safety and Freedom

Technology can absolutely improve how crimes are investigated and how quickly evidence is preserved. However, systems that rely on constant surveillance or prediction introduce serious risks to privacy, fairness, and civil liberties.

The future of justice is not about total control or perfect prediction. It is about balance: building smarter, faster, and more reliable systems that improve safety—without undermining the rights and freedoms they are meant to protect.

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