In 2054, the US legal system undergoes significant changes: crime rates are reduced to zero—criminals are caught before they have a chance to commit a crime. This is made possible by “Precrime” technology — the ability of three mutant “precogs” who can see the near future is used to identify the criminal and victim some time before the crime is committed. The police, having been warned, arrest the criminal before they commit the crime (but which they would have committed if the police had not intervened). The would-be murderers are placed in suspended animation capsules and watch a recording of their crime for the rest of their lives. The Precrime system works flawlessly, but just as elections are about to take place that would make Precrime the accepted legal system throughout the USA, the best cop in the crime prevention department, John Anderton, receives a report from the information center stating that in 35 hours he will kill a man he has never seen before.