Detroit Police Department agrees to new rules around facial recognition tech

As a part of a authorized settlement, the Detroit Police Division has agreed to new guardrails limiting the way it can use facial recognition expertise.

These new insurance policies prohibit the police from arresting individuals primarily based solely on the outcomes of a facial recognition search, or on the outcomes of photograph lineups carried out instantly after a facial recognition search. It additionally states that photograph lineups can’t be carried out solely on the premise of facial recognition — as a substitute, there have to be further proof linking a suspect to the crime.

The insurance policies — which may be enforced by a courtroom for the subsequent 4 years — additionally require police coaching across the dangers and risks of facial recognition tech, and an audit of all instances since 2017 the place facial recognition was used to acquire an arrest warrant.

Roger Williams, a Black man who was arrested after being recognized by facial recognition tech, had sued the police division and was represented by legal professionals from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative on the College of Michigan Legislation Faculty.

In saying the settlement, the ACLU described it as attaining “the nation’s strongest police division insurance policies and practices constraining legislation enforcement’s use of this harmful expertise.” It additionally famous that girls and other people of shade are “considerably extra more likely to be misidentified by facial recognition expertise.”

“With this painful chapter of our lives closing, my spouse and I’ll proceed elevating consciousness in regards to the risks of this expertise,” Williams mentioned in an announcement.

He reportedly spent 30 hours in jail after he was wrongly recognized as a person captured on surveillance footage stealing 5 watches from a retailer in downtown Detroit. His driver’s license photograph got here up in a facial recognition search of a database of mugshots and license pictures, and the safety contractor who supplied the footage agreed he was one of the best match, resulting in his arrest.

Prosecutors later dropped the costs. The police division mentioned it’s additionally paying Williams $300,000 as a part of the settlement.

In an announcement of its personal, the police division mentioned it’s “happy with its work with the ACLU and College of Michigan during the last 12 months and a half,” including that it “firmly” believes the brand new coverage “will function a nationwide finest follow and mannequin for different businesses utilizing this expertise.”

Cities together with San Francisco have banned using facial recognition by legislation enforcement. Microsoft additionally just lately banned police departments from utilizing its AI tech for facial recognition.