The Detroit Police Oversight Board is defending its approval of a new policy that would allow the use of facial recognition software, even as the idea continues to be soundly rejected by residents and civil rights groups across the state.
“I believe the prohibitions contained in the revised directive address many of the concerns raised by the public," Lisa Carter, chairwoman of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, told the Detroit Free Press after the vote passed by an 8-3 count. "The revised directive is not a complete ban on the use of facial recognition. The revised directive gives clear direction and lines of authority to the department as to when and how such technology can and cannot be used."
The final policy approved by the board puts certain restrictions on the use of the technology, including not allowing it to be used on live or recorded video, to assess a person's immigration status or to surveil the public.
Lisa Carter, chairwoman of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
| https://detroitmi.gov/
Carter said the approved directive combines upwards of 20 recommendations put forth by the board.
While Detroit Police Chief James Craig celebrated passage by hailing the vote as “a great day” for crime fighting, critics such as dissenting board member Willie Burton blasted the whole concept of the technology as “techno-racism,” adding that with this technology "everyone looks alike.”
In 2017, the city paid $1 million for the software and used the technology for roughly 18 months before undertaking a new policy governing its use.
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