A controversial intelligence program initiated by a Florida sheriff's office has sparked outrage and Minority Report comparisons.
The Pasco Sheriff's Office sent a four-page letter to so-called "prolific offenders" in the area, informing recipients that they would face enhanced police scrutiny.
"We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to participate in a Prolific Offender Program," the letter, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, reads.
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"Minority Report," anyone?" The Daily Beast columnist Julia Davis tweeted.
"Someone should tell the Tampa police that Minority Report was a *dystopian* society. Not, like a prescriptive idea of how we should actually fight crime," Raw Story reporter Matthew Chapman replied.
"Tampa police are building a tinpot police state," another person tweeted.
An alliance of local, state, and national organizations known as People Against the Surveillance of Children and Overpolicing (PASCO Coalition) strongly opposes the new program.
Raniah Elgendi, of the Council of American-Islamic Relations-Florida, said the letter is "threatening and promising a certain level of harassment and oversight" while Lauren Johnson, an assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said a heightened level of surveillance "is not what makes people or communities more safe."
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