Mother Accuses Facial Recognition Technology of Causing Wrongful Arrest
A lawsuit has been filed by a mother against the city of Detroit, alleging that she was wrongfully arrested for carjacking due to the city’s use of unreliable facial recognition technology, despite being eight months pregnant at the time.
Porcha Woodruff was getting her two children ready for school on the morning of Feb. 16 when half a dozen police officers showed up at her door to arrest her and drag her away in handcuffs, the 32-year-old Detroit woman said in a federal lawsuit. .
“They presented her with a warrant for robbery and carjacking, leaving her confused and assuming it was a joke given her visibly pregnant state,” her attorney wrote in a lawsuit accusing the city of wrongful arrest.
The suit, filed Thursday, alleges police relied on facial recognition technology that should not be relied upon because of “inherent flaws and unreliability, particularly when attempting to identify black individuals,” like Woodruff.
Some experts say facial recognition technology is more prone to errors when analyzing the faces of people of color.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement Sunday that the warrant that led to Woodruff’s arrest was on solid ground, NBC News reported.
“The decision was appropriate on the facts,” it said.
The case began in late January, when police investigating a carjacking reported by a gunman used images from gas station security video to track down a woman believed to be involved in the crime, according to the lawsuit.
Facial recognition analysis of the video identified Woodruff as a possible match, the suit said.
Woodruff’s photo from the 2015 arrest was in a photo lineup shown to the carjacking victim who singled him out, according to the suit.
Woodruff was released on the day of his arrest and the charges against him were later dismissed due to insufficient evidence, the civil suit remains.
“This case highlights significant deficiencies in the use of facial recognition technology to identify criminal suspects,” according to the lawsuit.
Woodruff’s lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages and legal fees.
