Controversy sticks to the use of facial recognition by US police

Facial recognition algorithms used by police in the U.S. are getting no less controversial. If anything, the issue is just becoming more polarized.

In fact, the controversy might be drawing in national and global debates. (Or getting drawn into them?)

Detroit’s police commissioner, Willie Burton, is saying the city should ban facial surveillance by Detroit police because face algorithms are being used by Israel to control residents of the Palestinian Authority.

Burton, who is Black, has been a foe of the systems for some time. He introduced a proposal in August to ban them in police hands because he says the software is most likely to be used on people of color and the software is statistically less accurate when aimed at Black men.

The ban was voted down.

In San Francisco, meanwhile, the mayor is making an unapologetically adamant demand to deregulate how city police acquire, use, expand and manage facial recognition camera networks.

London Breed, also Black, put the matter on the spring ballot and the results are hard to predict. San Francisco has benefited from the tech boom far more than it ever did when the city was home to banking giants like Bank of America. Affluence has grown greatly and so have fears that someone will take some of that affluence.

And in New York City, which has connected thousands of cameras to face-tracking, matching and -recognizing software, the police chief reportedly is playing Whac-A-Mole with NYC leaders on the issue of surveillance.

According to reporting by the news publisher The City, the department, led by Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, has ghosted the City Council on the matter three times in five weeks. Council members want to ask Maddrey, who is Black, if increased surveillance camera networks are particularly harming non-White residents.

That question might bring up uncomfortable statistics.

In New Orleans, where city leaders have had an ambivalent regard for facial recognition in the hands of police, an investigation by political news hub Politico reportedly finds Crescent City residents who are Black are analyzed more than other groups.

Politico editors say they have received city records that indicate that the police’s biometric software has “low effectiveness, is rarely associated with arrests and is disproportionately used on Black people.”

In 2020, the City Council voted 6 to 1 to ban the use of facial recognition systems by municipal agencies including the police department. The ban had broad support and opposition. Two years later, that ban for police was voted down by the City Council.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who is Black, celebrated the reversal saying the algorithms will “take dangerous criminals off our streets,” a finding that the Politico article could not corroborate.

Two councilors refused to support the reinstatement when an amendment to protect some populations and add accountability was removed from the ordinance.

The stipulation would have mandated reports on the system’s effectiveness. It also would have prohibited cameras being used to identify same-sex couples and people seeking abortions.

Article Topics

biometric bias  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  Detroit  |  facial recognition  |  New York City  |  police  |  San Francisco  |  United States