precrime

[pree-krahym]

adjective

1. of or relating to law-enforcement efforts and strategies to deter crime by predicting when and where criminal activity will occur.

Word History and Origins

Origin of precrime¹

Coined in 1956 by Philip K. Dick in his science-fiction short story “The Minority Report”; pre- + crime

Example Sentences

In tests of such “precrime intervention,” the researchers showed they could stop an agent before it performed a prohibited action such as touching a red item.

Read more on Science Magazine

It’s not to the point of Hollywood’s “Minority Report,” in which “Precrime” police use foreknowledge to arrest people before they commit crimes, but police across the country are turning to artificial intelligence to carry out their duties.

Read more on Washington Times

The sheriff’s statement specifically mentions the 2002 film “Minority Report,” which starred Tom Cruise as chief of a “precrime” police bureau that arrests people before any crime is committed based on information provided by psychics.

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There’s good reason for some immediate skepticism, especially since Trump’s framing of red flag laws sounded more than a little like the “precrime” policing of Minority Report .

Read more on Slate

Their forecasts alert the PreCrime division to arrest a man who’s about to kill his wife and her lover.

Read more on The Verge