MUSKAT: Multisensory based detection of offenders in crowds in complex police operations

Project Description:

The research project aims at developing a multisensory system in order to facilitate the localisation and prosecution of suspects in complex police operations. The interconnected surveillance system consists of mobile hand-held cameras, overview cameras and an operation centre. The deployment of this technology is expected to improve the documentation and thereby the preservation of evidence in dynamic and complex situations.

Within the project, the IZEW will deliver two ethical expert reports. As a sub-contractor of the Fraunhofer IOSB, the IZEW continuously assesses and supports the project research ethically. The ethical work package within the research project is thereby two-fold: The IZEW will analyse the specific ethical consequences the developed technology brings about (1) as well as the societal implications of the system at hand (2).

1) Technology Ethics: This report assesses the technological system from an ethical perspective. It focuses on the potential presuppositions inscribed in the system as well as the ethical consequences of the particular technological implementation of the system.

2) Society Ethics: The aim of this report is to conduct an analysis of the societally relevant aspects of MUSKAT against the backdrop of the chosen scenario of police operations surrounding football matches. The analysis assesses those societal dynamics affected by the system in context and thereby explores the societal consequences of the technology deployment.

Research Associates:

Katrin Geske
Marco Krüger