A Brooklyn father says he was wrongfully arrested after facial-recognition software used by the New York City Police Department allegedly misidentified him.
Advocates are now urging a prohibition on the technology across all five boroughs.
Brooklyn man erroneously accused in indecent exposure case
Attorneys for Trevis Williams, 36, say that in April, the NYPD relied on facial recognition that flagged him as the suspect in a case where a man exposed himself to a woman in Manhattan earlier this year.
Williams spent two days in custody and was charged with an indecent-exposure offense.
“He was arrested, he was prosecuted, and despite our informing the district attorney’s office that we had exculpatory evidence showing Mr. Williams was nowhere near the scene at the time, the case continued,” said Diane Akerman, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Digital Forensics Unit.
Williams’ case was ultimately dismissed.
“The person they were looking for was 5-foot-6, and I’m 6-2,” Williams said.
He says the ordeal has left him in a persistent state of fear.
“It’s very stressful. It’s always on my mind. I still think about what if I had to register as a sex offender for something I didn’t do,” he said.
Legal Aid Society calls for a ban on facial recognition technology
The Legal Aid Society says Williams’ wrongful arrest tied to facial recognition is the seventh such misidentification it has documented in the last five years.
“At this point, it is clear the NYPD cannot be trusted with this technology, and lawmakers have to move to ban its use,” Akerman said.
“If it’s not 100%, then they shouldn’t use it, because a lot of people are going to end up in prison or with tarnished names for something they didn’t do,” Williams said.
“It is not making any of us safer. The individual who actually committed this is still out there,” Akerman said.
Williams is now exploring legal action.
An NYPD spokesperson said facial recognition is an important tool used as a potential tip or lead, adding: “If there is a possible match, the NYPD cannot and will never make an arrest solely using facial recognition technology.”
The department said the technology, paired with additional investigative measures, has helped secure past arrests, including in the 2022 shoving death of an 87-year-old woman in Manhattan.
Source link: Cbsnews.com.
