Small and big US communities seek biometrics, capabilities for cops

Is police use of AI surveillance in the United States an irreversible trend?

It’s hard to say because only a minority of municipalities, states, counties and universities have actually debated purchases of biometric- and object-recognition tools.

Of course, among the comparatively few that have discussed policies are major population centers like New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Here the trend is getting clearer every year: Law enforcement wants AI and more often than not, it’s getting the algorithms and cameras.

Here’s a look at what’s happening this week.

Nashville residents are being given a chance to debate a year-old single-source service contract for integrating surveillance footage in the Tennessee city, according to the daily newspaper The Tennessean.

While the original real-time crime center contract was not, as was required, publicly discussed, its renewal is being debated. Chances of a reversal are slim.

The city paid the data-analysis firm Fusus $175,000 last year and is prepared to re-sign a new one-year, single-source contract for $250,000 as soon as this week. The company collects government surveillance and video from private property owners who volunteer to participate.

Nashville reportedly has not elected for Fusus’ facial recognition service.

There’s another optional function, a so-called panic button, that can send urgent alerts from system administrators to relevant public agencies and start live video analysis.

In San Francisco, the news is about financial support for expanded police powers, including biometric surveillance.

Proposition E, if passed, would remove significant red tape designed to make the police department think before reaching for facial recognition. It also would reduce the power of the watchdog Police Commission to meddle in AI decisions.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, $1 million has been raised to push Prop. E. The city’s mayor created a supporting committee for Prop. E which has attracted funds from the opponent she faces in her upcoming re-election bid.

At the same time, a county sheriff’s office in the state of Washington is beginning the process of justifying the use of Clearview AI’s facial recognition service.

A story in the Tri-City Herald, in Benton County, says the sheriff’s office is anxious to be the first of its peers in the state to subscribe to Clearview AI.

According to the article, the police have been quoted $7,500 for an annual subscription. The sheriff’s office is preparing to begin the request process. The police will have to explain how the service would be used and managed.

The management process would include review of all matches by two investigators to prevent false positives. The sheriff says the tool would help in situations like a recent shooting, where investigators reviewed photos and videos for two months to identify possible witnesses.

And last, a county in the state of Indiana is preparing to deploy license plate readers. Officials at Vanderburgh County have purchased 13 cameras from manufacturer Flock Safety to record plates. That number is supposed to climb to 45 this year.

The system, available through a 60-month, $240,050 contract, will be able to send alerts to police, but it won’t record vehicle speed or red-light violations, according to local news publisher the Courier & Press.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  Clearview AI  |  criminal ID  |  facial recognition  |  police  |  San Francisco  |  United States