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Worcesteria: Everybody polka with the WPD! Worcester Magazine EVERYBODY POLKA!!! Worcester residents may have noticed a new video making the rounds on Facebook, "Pre-Crime Polka," taking aim at the Shotspotter Connect program which uses AI to analyze the data and create a crime forecast for an area. The musical puppet show features Police Chief Sargent, along with police back-up dancers, extolling the virtues of the new program while scolding the audience as potential criminals who are now under surveillance. Performed by artist Eli Ana, it is a catchy tune written by local songwriter and satirical pianist Nat Needle, an activist with Showing Up for Racial Justice. It is clearly a reference to what people of color deal with when interacting with police — the assumption that you are or are likely to be a criminal. “When I heard this song, I had a eureka moment,” said Eli Ana. “It so brilliantly captured the attitudes of a lot of people.” According to them, poking fun at people in power and political satire is very deeply rooted in puppetry as an art form, so the show starts with a reminder of Sargent’s infamous statement about no racism at the WPD. It focuses on the primary concern that the program would disproportionately target minorities, particularly Black and Latinx communities. “What’s concerning is this image of people being able to avoid responsibility by saying the machine said it,” said Needle, which he touches on in the sarcastic chorus lyrics - “we’ll know when you’re up to no good; machines make no mistake!” Eli Ana is clear that this piece was needed because “there was a lack of understanding of the implications of implementing SSC in our community.” So they decided to make art about it — “using an almost whimsical art form to illustrate a serious issue of life and death,” said Needle. “That’s art.” (VM)