The Department of Justice has opened civil rights investigations into the use of facial recognition technology by police departments in five major cities, following documented cases of misidentification leading to wrongful arrests of Black and Latino individuals.
The investigations target departments in Detroit, New Orleans, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where civil rights organizations have documented at least 50 cases of misidentification-based arrests since 2023. In several cases, individuals were detained for hours before the errors were discovered.
Facial recognition technology has been shown to have higher error rates for darker-skinned individuals, women, and young people. Despite these known limitations, many police departments use the technology without policies governing its accuracy threshold or requiring human verification before arrests.
The DOJ investigations will examine departmental policies, training, and oversight mechanisms for facial recognition use. If departments are found to have violated civil rights through discriminatory technology use, the DOJ could impose consent decrees requiring comprehensive reforms.
Several cities have already banned or restricted police use of facial recognition, including San Francisco, Boston, and Portland. The DOJ investigations could lead to federal guidelines or legislation governing law enforcement use of AI-powered identification technologies.
