What is a Push Poll? JeffCo knows (and you paid for it). Do your local police use AI? Call and ask, then speak up if you're concerned.
Selling you the rope (part 2): Jeffco paying contracts out to friends to influence you to part with your money (and in the "Related" content below to get you to keep your mouth shut and not question public health).
Natalie Menten and Brandon Wark of Free State Colorado have been doing yeoman's work lately to uncover and publicize JeffCo's love of giving consulting jobs to Ian Silverii (progressive activist and husband to US Rep Pettersen). It's of course (perish the thought!) not politically-motivated folks. Not at all. It has nothing to do with political connections.
The Gazette story linked first below is the only one I'm aware of where a major media outlet has actually delved into this issue. If you are aware of another major media outlet's investigation into it, please share.
I've posted on this before, so I will skip a lot of the details of the story (the Gazette link and Free State Colorado link below it can give you all the context you'll want), and focus in on educating you about something you may or may not have heard of before.
I put a dictionary definition of a push poll at the top of this post and that's what I want to go into detail on because I think JeffCo's polling as outlined in the Gazette article is a good example (not to mention the fact that you should seek ways to arm yourself against manipulation and to educate others).
The best way to think of a push poll is that it's purpose is not to take your temperature, but to heat you up or cool you down.
I'll quote the Wikipedia page linked third below before talking about JeffCo's poll (with the "citation needed" note left intact--a legitimate thing to note):
"The mildest forms of push polling are designed merely to remind voters of a particular issue. For instance, a push poll might ask respondents to rank candidates based on their support of an issue in order to get voters thinking about that issue. Many push polls are negative attacks on candidates. These often contain suggestions not stated as facts.[citation needed] They ask questions such as "If you knew that Candidate Smith was being investigated for corruption, would you be more likely to vote for him or less likely?" The question does not say that any investigation has taken place, so it is not a lie, but it puts in the respondent's mind the idea that Candidate Smith may be corrupt."
Now let's turn to what Ian Silverii's poll for JeffCo asked. Quoting the Gazette article:
"One of the questions the poll asked was this: 'Would you be more or less likely to support a measure if it supported the following county programs/services?' The poll then listed those programs, including 'fixing potholes,' 'road and bridge repair' and 'youth mental and behavioral health programs.' The framing of that question appeared geared toward swaying voters to support the 'measure' — without actually describing that it would allow the county to retain and spend all revenues it collects, and thereby eliminate people's TABOR refunds."
See the connection?
Look at what is asked and what is not asked. They do not ask about you keeping your money. They do not ask about your family having less if this measure passes. They do not frame it in terms of less-popular government services.
This poll is not asking you what you think it's trying to put a worm inside your brain to get you to equate keeping TABOR limits in place with having roads in disrepair and miserable children.
Be aware of push polls. They're not trying to get at your opinion. They're trying to change it and manipulate. If you're on the phone and asked leading/tilted questions like these, hang up.**
Also, when someone quotes polls at you, dig in a little. Look at what was asked and what was not asked. Look at the tone of the questions. Look who paid the bill.
And if you live in JeffCo (or know someone who does) speak up and vote down the de-TABORing issue.
**My default is to not participate in any polls because I have better things to do, but if you do participate, be aware.
https://denvergazette.com/news/jefferson-county-taxpayer-funding-ballot/article_ae3176b2-4921-11ef-b737-775133235849.html#main-page-container
https://freestatecolorado.com/menten-persuasion/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_poll
Related:
Menten did another interview with Free State CO but instead of talking about the Silverii contract to persuade voters to drop TABOR protections, this one details a contract (also involving Silverii) from back during COVID to tailor public health messaging.
Swampy. Swampy as all get out.
Call, ask your local law enforcement officials whether or not they are using AI.
If you hear they are and they don't like it, exercise your rights and speak up. Your sheriff (if it's a sheriff's office) is an elected official. Your city council and/or mayor are the ones to approach if it's a police department.
The CPR article below details how police are using AI (in some places) and how this use works around a couple of recent state laws in Colorado which puts boundaries on it.
I'll leave it to you to read up on the article, but there are a couple important quotes I wanted to share.
--Turn first to screenshot 1. A quick note before you read (since I can't insert text in a screenshot): Lexis Nexis is a legal database. Among other things, it has mugshots.
Why start here? I want to give you a reasonable sense of what is (probably, there is the possibility of abuse and/or lying, but I'm loathe to toss that out there without hearing of it first) accessed when police undertake an AI search using a photograph. That is, let's be careful and thoughtful. I'm not saying we shouldn't be wary or watchful, but let's do it by starting out from firm ground.
--Now turn to screenshot 2. This is two blocks of non-contiguous text from the article. I highlighted the important part for the lower of the two.
Why this set? I put it here because I want you to be aware of which departments are known to be using this and to highlight what you can do if you have concerns. It's the same advice: contact your elected officials (sheriff and/or city council) and let them know.
Speaking up and calling out your concerns in public is your right. Do not let someone with a badge intimidate you into being quiet. Do not be timid. Do not figure someone else will speak up.