Michigan to adopt strongest laws in the US on police use of facial recognition

A settlement in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Robert Williams, a Detroit man who was wrongfully arrested in front of his family after being misidentified by facial recognition software, will see the state of Michigan adopt the U.S.’s strongest policy governing police use of facial recognition.

A release from the ACLU says the settlement prohibits police from arresting people based solely on facial recognition results, or on the results of photo lineups using facial recognition search. Michigan police cannot conduct a lineup based solely on a facial recognition lead, without “independent and reliable evidence linking a suspect to a crime.”

Officers who file requests to use facial recognition algorithms will need to fill out additional forms that “document critical information.”

And police must be trained on facial recognition technology to “minimize the risk of wrongful arrests driven by facial recognition technology (FRT) – especially of Black people, who are at greater risk of misidentification by FRT.”

There is also a retroactive element, in an audit that will look at any arrest warrant attached to the use of facial recognition systems going back to 2017.

Williams’ arrest in 2020 was based on a facial match found between low-quality security camera footage and a photo lineup. He speaks of how the wrongful arrest for the alleged theft of some watches traumatized his family and says he hopes the settlement will make it “far less likely to happen again to another person in Detroit.”

“With this painful chapter of our lives closing,” he says, “my wife and I will continue raising awareness about the dangers of this technology.” Williams, who will also receive monetary damages as part of the settlement, had petitioned for a total ban on the use of facial recognition by Michigan law enforcement.

A report from NPR quotes a statement from the Detroit Police Department, which says it amended its facial recognition policy in 2023 following the wrongful arrest of Porcha Woodruff, a Black woman accused of carjacking after a facial biometrics mismatch.

“Following the incident, the Department created a policy specific to facial recognition that included three independent sign offs before being approved for use in an investigation. The policy also makes it clear that a facial recognition match can only be used as a tip to further an investigation, and that it cannot be used as the basis for someone being named as a suspect in an investigation.”

Wrongful arrests create advocates for legal reform on FRT

Those who have faced wrongful arrests prompted by erroneous facial recognition matches have become some of its most vocal critics. Williams has addressed California lawmakers who are pursuing a law that would put similar limits on police use of facial recognition.

Phil Mayor, senior staff attorney at ACLU Michigan, says he hopes the settlement will serve as “a model for other police departments that insist on using facial recognition technology.”

“Under this settlement, the Detroit Police Department should transform from being a nationwide leader in wrongful arrests driven by facial recognition technology into being a leader in implementing meaningful guardrails to constrain and limit their use of the technology.”

Earlier in June, the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan voted to develop policies and guidelines around the use of FRT by local police.

Article Topics

ACLU  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  criminal ID  |  Detroit  |  facial recognition  |  false arrest  |  lawsuits  |  Michigan  |  police