Child sex trafficking crimes are being solved thanks to the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology advances. Designed to support law enforcement in sex trafficking investigations, web-based applications are being used by officers in all 50 U.S. states and Canada.

These innovations grew out of an acknowledgement that technology was playing an enabling role for crime, but it had not yet been harnessed as part of the solution. That reality is changing with the application of data science and AI to combat crime on many fronts.

So, why is it that the public has strong reservations with police using breakthrough technologies despite their crime-fighting value?