“You’ve probably grasped the basic legalistic drawback to precrime methodology. We’re taking in individuals who have broken no law. [...] We claim they’re culpable. They, on the other hand, eternally claim they’re innocent. And, in a sense, they are innocent.”

Anderton states the flaw in the seemingly perfect Precrime law enforcement system. While this description initially appears to be worldbuilding, it foreshadows Anderton’s own punchcard and his subsequent moral dilemmas.

“God, he [Anderton] was beginning to suspect everybody—not only his wife and Witwer, but a dozen members of his staff.”

Anderton is prone to paranoia. Once he sees the punchcard classifying him as a future criminal, he immediately believes the card is “rigged.” His personal insecurities about his looming retirement and subsequent replacement lead him to distrust everyone in his immediate vicinity, whether or not there is plausible evidence to support his suspicions.

“‘I don’t care what you prove or don’t prove,’ Kaplan interrupted. ‘All I’m interested in is having you out of the way. [...] For my own protection.’”

This is the first clear hint that for Kaplan, his own interests are most important. What happens to others as a result of his actions makes no difference to him. This foreshadows his later behavior with the precog reports and Precrime system.