NYPD's utilization of facial recognition technology under scrutiny, as Legal Aid Society demands an investigation
The New York City Council has recently passed new standards on how the police should use facial recognition technology, as concerns about its reliability and potential for biased results continue to mount.
The NYPD has claimed that the technology has helped close multiple high-profile, violent cases. However, it is important to note that the technology is never used as the sole cause for an arrest.
Despite these claims, the NYPD's use of facial recognition technology has been a subject of debate for years. The Legal Aid Society, an advocate for civil rights, has urged the NYPD Inspector General, Lucy Lang, to investigate the NYPD's use of the technology.
The Legal Aid Society alleges that the NYPD has violated its own policies on how to use facial recognition technology. They claim that the NYPD has used facial recognition matches sourced from outside of its own database to identify suspects, a practice that raises concerns about privacy and accuracy.
The Innocence Project has cited six cases in which Black people were misidentified and falsely accused of crimes by facial recognition technology. This raises questions about the technology's potential for increased profiling and its impact on New Yorkers.
Diane Akerman, a staff attorney with Legal Aid's digital forensics unit, expressed uncertainty about when the Inspector General's office will respond to the letter. She stated that the NYPD cannot be trusted to use facial recognition technology in a way that does not harm New Yorkers.
The NYPD has stated that facial recognition technology is not used to establish probable cause or make an arrest. However, a report by The New York Times this week revealed that the NYPD improperly used facial recognition technology to misidentify and later arrest a man for a crime he did not commit.
The Department of Investigation has received and is reviewing Legal Aid's letter. The Legal Aid Society has requested Jeanene Barrett, the inspector general for the NYPD, to publish any findings from the investigation in her next annual audit.
Akerman, from the NYPD, stated that the department considers facial recognition technology an "important tool" used in New York and across the U.S. However, the ongoing scrutiny and calls for investigation suggest that there are still many questions to be answered about the use of this technology in law enforcement.
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