Focused on one former new york city detective and many more shock exonerations would may be coming. Did you ever think you would see this day . Im ali velshi. Our special conk coverage of the cost of injustice begins right now. The state of texas has executed an innocent man. How to make unreasonable decisions under stressful situations. The cost of injustice lifetimes lost as a result of wrongful convictions. Tonight an exclusive look at how we got to this breaking point. Youve seen the headlines but you have never seen this. Let me stress. This is not just about identifying the problem. Its also about revealing the cutting edge ways that Law Enforcement is attempting to find solutions. Well reveal fascinating new technology thats already helping some Police Departments predict where crimes will happen, before they occur. It sounds like a scifi movie but its real. Well show you how its being used in one of the roughest parts of los angeles. But Charles Ramsey occurred that all the negative news about cops is turning young people and minorities away from careers in Law Enforcement. It is a problem confronting Law Enforcement throughout the country. Overwhelmingly white Police Departments. But before you can truly understand the controversy raging between minorities and police you need to know, who are americas cops . At the center of the National Conversation about race and Law Enforcement, are the Nations Police officers. Many African Americans say theyre unfairly targeted by the police. We have a problem. Of young black men, unarmed, being gunned down. With no reason at all. And part of the reason may stem from who Police Departments are hiring in the first place. Story. In the u. S. , there are more than 696,000 full time Police Officers. The overwhelming majority, three quarters, are white. Only 12 of u. S. Police officers are black. Your typical Police Officer in the United States is a white male from a lower middle class background who is likely not collegeeducated. And whats also becoming clear is that the ethnicity of many cops hired by local Police Departments doesnt reflect the neighborhoods they serve. In ferguson, missouri, 83 of the police force is white, while 67 of the population is black. In north charleston, 80 of the citys Police Department is white but nearly half of its residents are African American. That racial gap is found in hundreds of communities around the nation and to a lesser extent its also happening here in the city of sarasota, florida. Officer juan sanchez is a 15year veteran of the city of sarasota Police Department. A lot of folks see sarasota as this really nice city with good schools good tax base but the reality is that a lot of the city is lowincome. Almost a quarter of sarasotas population, 22 , live at or below the poverty line. And many of them live here, in a neighborhood called newtown. I rode with a few officers that are African American and from newtown. Officer ken rainy has been on the are force for two years. They would see a certain amount of trust with an African American officer responding to whatever their situation may be. They may feel a little bit more trust that their situation is going to be handled fairly and impartially, whereas they might not feel it would be if it was a white officer responding to the same situation. Until recently sarasota s citizens had a problem with the police force. Another one of the chiefs Biggest Challenges is bringing more African Americans into the department. Back in 1979 just 4 of the police force was African American. 95 was white. Five years later, the Justice Department concluded an investigation which found that the citys Employment Practices had a, quote, discriminatory impact on blacks and women. Sarasota was ordered to take corrective action and by 2007, 10 of the police force was black. But by 2014, the number of African Americans on the force dropped to 8 . In a city which is 15 African American. Now, only 12 officers out of 157 are black. Right now i am the only African American supervisor in the entire sarasota Police Department. Whats going on man how you doing . Eric bolden grew up in sarasota and has been on the police force for 25 years. We have a long way to go. We have no African Americans in the command staff at all. So just being able to have one to relate to the issues thats going on in the African American community and they can in turn teach those caucasian officers hey this is whats going on. Its not a problem. And i think well be in a much better position. Were looking at increasing the number of African Americans and hispanics and also females within our force but its a challenge. Theres a lot of challenges to recruit individuals to come onto our agent. Agency. The biggest problem may be finding people who want to become cops. Sarasotas starting salary can be as low as 18 an hour. So in order to guys more candidates, now a 21yearold rooky cop only has to have a High School Diploma to make arrests on the streets of sarasota. There is standard of two years of college to high score ged. I dont think were lowering our standards, i think we are opening the pool of candidates because we want to generate the potential for individuals to apply to a Police Departments. In fact only 1 of Police Departments across the u. S. Require officers to have a college degree. The vast majorities only require a High School Diploma. Many experts think that for policing to fundamentally change departments need to hire better educated cops. One study which looked at data from 43,000 Police Officers was striking. Cops with just a High School Diploma, 58 of the total were the subject of 75 of all disciplinary actions while officers with a bachelors degree, 24 of the total, were the subject of just 11 of all disciplinary action s. But john de carlo, who coordinates a Police Studies program, has a warning about higher educational standards. If we raise the bar, we have to raise the administration criteria. Admission criteria,will we get people who are willing to do the job, will we have people who are willing to go into harms way, work 365 days a year, with guns pointed at them. This has been pretty well studied since the 1970s. College educated Police Officers are less likely to use force more likely to settle interactions with the citizens that make the citizens happier. There may be another more subtler reason for maintaining economic standards for cops. The implied message that is perceived is they are lowering the standards so that the chief can hire more minority officers. And thats not reality. Hispanics, women, African Americans all graduate from college. Back in 1987 fred adkins was elected the first African American mayor of sarasota. He persuaded the Justice Department to hire more African Americans. Its not like we want to hire people that are less informed or less educated and African Americans have always been willing to do what it takes to qualify. Hiring better educated cops who look more than the communities they serve may be one way to hedge against a future that are more like fergusons and charlestons. Crimes before they happen, i show you how police are using new technology to become almost psychic about where crime will happen next. Were looking at a burglary here and auto theft there. Based on that, it is here, the corner here, is the spot for the day. The state of texas has executed an innocent man. How to make good decisions under stressful circumstances. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction. Technologicaltechnology created to predict and prevent future crimes is being used in increasing numbers of Police Departments in United States and beyond. Some critics worry that some could use this socalled predictive Crime Fighting technology as an excuse to hassle people in minority neighborhoods. Jake ward investigates whether this is helping or hurting justice in america. The violent streets of South Central l. A. Plagued by gangs and known the world over for six days of riots following the rodney king verdict. And although much has improved here in recent years, an average ten violence crimes and 27 property crimes per week. If we have any shootings with hits i have to notify the captains, notify the bureau code 2 and a half. The Newton Division is on the front line, its territory includes South Central. Along with their arsenal of shotguns handguns and tasers officers are armed with a new tool, pred pol, a technology that predicts where crimes will occur. If you have pred pol, if you guys can spend some time in the pred pol areas right there. In the 60s and 70s up and down broadway. Weve had a lot of the Violent Crime taking place. Michael newton heads the predpol division. We try to deploy each basic car thats going out is given a predpol map. The predictive policing, they immediately think of minority report. But theres a really big difference between trying to predict who is going to commit a crime and predicting where and when a crime is most likely to occur. Ucla anthropology professor jeff branham. You are saying its going to be this, the corner of oxnard and hazeltine. You want to touch that . Thats right. Tells her that an auto theft is likely to occur on 51st and sproid. San pedroia. Pedro. Thats right. A pedestrian violation we can always do a consensual stop. Get an idea of who they are and where they live. Arrest within those boxes is that one of the outcomes . That is one of the outcomes. We did see a reduction in crime just based on the amount of time that we spent in those boxes. In the los angeles flow division, crimes were down 14 in the days following its rollout. 20 drop in vehicle 37th since deploying predpol. The l. A. P. D. Was a predpol, volunteer. After the los angeles Police Department began predictive policing ,. Doing are two different things. Public may be less sold on the idea given a new National Awareness of violence encounters. I think about you know a teenaged kid who happens to be living in one of the three houses your system has identified. Hes going to be more likely to come under the eye of a Police Officer or put into a squad car even if he hasnt done anything wrong just because the system has identified that place as being a likely place for crime. The only data that is being used here is what type of crime is it, when did it occur and where did it occur, focused on the events themselves. They put a tight rein on people. Where they level. Someone who happens to live on this block that were cruising right now, theyre kind of unfairly getting your eye on them, youre ready for trouble on this block, they happen to live on this block and maybe theyre not doing anything wrong . We dont want them to feel that way. That isnt the hope theyre gaining out of this. They want them to feel good that were actually more visible in the area in which we live. The day we rode with the l. A. P. D. No crimes were detected but the officer says the arrests are not goal. Just being in that spot to help deter. In fact its been known for quite a long time that theres such a thing as visual deterrence. A Police Officer shows up in a location and when they leave their fact persists after a long period of time. Future looks promising. 72 of the Police Departments surveyed, said they plan to use Predictive Technology in the next two to five years. Jake ward with me here. Predictive policing, residual i forget the word he used. Residual deterrence. Cops have been doing something of this nature for sometime. Its statistics. Weve seen that with com stat in new york. Thats early experience. 500 feet to 500 feet thats what the stats tell you. Youre a man of science, is there anything predictive of this or the fact this is a high crime area why dont we show up a little bit more . That is sort of the squirrely thing there. Based on the algorithms used to predict earthquakes. If this is giving off new tremors, they calculated things off like high schools and bars. Just not geographic spots. But its supposed to be sort of dumb data, they are trying very hard not to profile people. This is the people who have difficulty defending this, you are nonetheless have Police Coming to your block in a more skeptical way than they would normally. The fear goes to minority report, to what point do they start targeting individuals . Your folks in there are quick to say we dont target individuals,s this geographic areas. The worry i sort of raised, they cop to it to some extent is that a Police Officer coming up through system whos raised on this kind of system really only believes that it really only counts in this 500 by 500 area. It counts all the time but in the feeling where a drone operator where the drone is making the target requisition acquisition process for you, making it easy for you and i ali to make a decision. Are they going to be able to bring a critical and maybe humane eye to their jobs . Is this too much of a shortcut . That is question about this. Jake, its good to have you in studio, thank you. A new york city detective is at the center of dozens of conviction under scrutiny. A defendant freed after 23 years behind bars. Consequently the defendants motion is hereby granted to the extent that his judgment is vacated. And a new trial ordered. An inside look at how roshan part of al Jazeera Americas special month long evironmental focus fragile planet think back to early 1990s. Imagine being removed from society as a teenager, locked into a cell and being sprung free in 2013 as a 40yearold man. Imagine you did not commit the murder that cost you 30 years of your life . Roshan hargrave is over 100 cases that is under scrutiny. To the extent his judgment is vacated and a new trial ordered. Reporter with that a brooklyn judge ordered ro Roshan Hargrave released, citing incomplete police work. They claim he was railroaded when he and another teen shown in a daily news photo entered into evidence, were convicted of a murder, one officer was killed eyewitness. Did you ever think you would see this day . I dreamt. While hargrave was released without bail, he was granted a new trial. The judge said the new evidence was pattern of questionable police work by the detective in the case, lewis scarcella, now retired. Scarcella is considered a legend for his number of homicide arrests and theres a saying when its too good to be true, it usually is. The judge cited other cases handled by scar cella that have been revisited. Darryl hamilton, spent 21 years in prison for a murder he said he did not commit. This indictment is now dismissed. Reversed conviction, 24, 25 years later, on evidence that existed a month after i was arrested frustrates me. He is seeking 100 million in damages. Attorney Pierre Sussman represents hargrave and others who have had their convictions overturned. David spent 24 years in prison and settled for 6. 4 million. Collectively spent 60 years behind bars and settled with the city for 17 million. These cases never should have made it beyond the district attorneys desk. They just shouldnt have but they did. How was this raibl to able to happen . I feel like the climate of those years in new york city was such that tremendous pressure was put on these precincts to make arrests, particularly in Violent Crime. Homicide cases being the ultimate Violent Crime. Lewis scarcella has adamantly denied any wrongdoing. Judge simpsons ruling in the hargrave case, to be clear, cases being revisited go far beyond louis scar scarcell a. All stem pack to the 80s and 90s. Due in part to district attorneys Kenneth Thompson formation investigation units on cases that have come under concern. Im not going to make that statement but im going to follow in whatever direction the investigation leads us. Anyone who was put away for a crime that they didnt commit thats a problem. Are you shocked with the number of cases you have had to review . I wouldnt say shocked. I natured 100 cases and at one point we were reviewing 130 ca