The Detroit Police Department has agreed to new restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology following a settlement with Robert Williams, a Black man who was wrongfully arrested in 2020 due to a false match. While it’s not a complete ban on the technology, the court will oversee the enforcement of the agreement for the next four years. The ACLU has praised these new rules, calling them the strongest in the country for law enforcement.
Under the new restrictions, police in Detroit are prohibited from making arrests based solely on facial recognition results or conducting lineups based only on facial recognition leads. This comes after Williams was arrested at his home in front of his family, based on an expired driver’s license photo that was falsely matched to an alleged shoplifter. He described the experience as completely disrupting his life.
The ACLU highlighted that Detroit PD has made at least two other wrongful arrests using facial recognition technology, both involving Black individuals. Studies have shown that facial recognition is more likely to misidentify people of color, highlighting the need for these new regulations.
According to the agreement, an FRT lead combined with a lineup identification cannot be the sole basis for seeking an arrest warrant. There must be additional independent and reliable evidence linking a suspect to a crime. Additionally, all cases dating back to 2017 where facial recognition was used to obtain an arrest warrant will be reviewed.
Police officers in Detroit will receive training on the technology to address any racial bias in its accuracy rates. This training aims to ensure that facial recognition is not used as a substitute for thorough investigative police work, as Williams emphasized in his TIME op-ed.
Overall, these new restrictions aim to prevent wrongful arrests and address the racial bias associated with facial recognition technology. By implementing these measures, the Detroit Police Department is taking a step towards ensuring fair and just law enforcement practices in the city.
