As part of a legal settlement, the Detroit Police Department has agreed to new restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology.
This new policy prohibit police from arresting people based solely on the results of a facial recognition search, or on the results of photo lineups conducted immediately after a facial recognition search. It is also stated that photo lineups cannot be created based solely on facial recognition; instead, there must be additional evidence linking a suspect to the crime.
The policy – which can be enforced by a court over the next four years – also requires police training on the risks and dangers of facial recognition technology, and an audit of all cases since 2017 in which facial recognition was used to obtain an arrest warrant.
Roger Williams, a black man who was arrested after being identified using facial recognition technology, had sued police and was represented by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union and the University of Michigan Law School's Civil Rights Litigation Initiative.
In to announce After the settlement, the ACLU described it as achieving “the strongest police policies and practices that limit law enforcement's use of this dangerous technology.” It also noted that women and people of color are “significantly more likely to be misidentified by facial recognition technology.”
“As this painful chapter in our lives draws to a close, my wife and I will continue to raise awareness about the dangers of this technology,” Williams said in a statement.
He reportedly spent 30 hours in jail after he was wrongly identified as a man captured on surveillance footage stealing five watches from a downtown Detroit store. His driver's license photo turned up in a facial recognition search of a database of arrest photos and driver's license photos, and the security guard who provided the images agreed he was the best match, leading to his arrest.
Prosecutors later dropped the charges. Police said they will also pay Williams $300,000 as part of the settlement.
In a statement, the police department said it is “pleased with its work with the ACLU and the University of Michigan over the past year and a half,” adding that it “firmly believes” the new policy “will serve as a national best practice and model for other agencies using this technology.”
Cities like San Francisco have banned the use of facial recognition by law enforcement. Microsoft also recently banned police departments from using its AI technology for facial recognition.
