Detroit Police Department Falsely Arrest Man Using Facial Recognition Wins Settlement

FOX 2 – A settlement has been reached in a 2020 wrongful arrest lawsuit related to the Detroit Police Department’s use of facial recognition technology.

Civil rights activists call the agreement “groundbreaking.” Robert Williams’ lawsuit has therefore triggered a review of facial recognition software by DPD.

Williams was wrongfully arrested from DPD in 2020 due to the camera technology.

“The more they say they are transparent, the more I say they have secrets,” said Detroit Police Commissioner Ricardo Moore.

Moore spoke to FOX 2 about the need for greater scrutiny of facial recognition technology in Detroit.

“I’m certainly not waving the flag of success on this issue because we still have a long way to go – but it’s a start,” he said.

The accountability demanded by Moore appears to be on the way.

Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested because of facial recognition software. He was suspected of stealing watches from a shop in the city – but it turned out to be fake.

Williams was one of several people wrongfully arrested because Detroit police relied on the technology.

“Once you get into the facial recognition issue of 2017, some issues will emerge,” Moore said.

Under the settlement, police will not be able to arrest individuals based solely on facial recognition results or the results of photo arrays immediately following a facial recognition search.

But perhaps the biggest win: There will be an audit of all cases since 2017 in which facial recognition technology was used to obtain an arrest warrant.

Hilary Golston, FOX 2: “How many cases are we talking about?”

“We’re talking dozens,” Moore said. “This sets a hard line, an important cornerstone, for the federal government to question and investigate exactly what is happening with facial recognition at the Detroit Police Department.”

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Detroit police sent a statement saying in part: “At the time of Mr. Williams’ arrest, department members adhered to general guidelines regarding technology, suspect identification and arrest protocols.”

“Following the incident, the ministry created a policy specifically for facial recognition that required three independent clearances before it was approved for use in an investigation.

“The policy also clarifies that a facial recognition match can only be used as an indication for further investigation and cannot be used as a basis for naming an individual as a suspect in an investigation.”