Crimes and Courts

Why some cities and states balk at face recognition tech

Published

7 years ago

December 17, 2019

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Police departments around the U.S. are asking citizens to trust them to use facial recognition software as another handy tool in their crime-fighting toolbox. But some lawmakers — and even some technology giants — are hitting the brakes.

Are fears of an all-seeing, artificially intelligent security apparatus overblown? Not if you look at China, where advancements in computer vision applied to vast networks of street cameras have enabled authorities to track members of ethnic minority groups for signs of subversive behavior.

American police officials and their video surveillance industry partners contend that won’t happen here. They are pushing back against a movement by cities, states and federal legislators to ban or curtail the technology’s use. And the efforts aren’t confined to typical bastions of liberal activism that enacted bans this year: San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and the Boston suburbs of Somerville and Brookline.

Take the western Massachusetts city of Springfield, a former manufacturing hub where a majority of the 155,000 residents are Latino or black, and where police brutality and misconduct lawsuits have cost the city millions of dollars. Springfield police say they have no plans to deploy facial recognition systems, but some city councilors are moving to block any future government use of the technology anyway.

At an October hearing on the subject, Springfield City Councilor Orlando Ramos said he doesn’t want to take any chances. “It would only lead to more racial discrimination and racial profiling,” he said, citing studies that found higher error rates for facial recognition software used to identify women and people with darker skin tones.

“I’m a black woman and I’m dark,” another Springfield councilor, Tracye Whitfield, told the city’s police commissioner, Cheryl Clapprood, who is white. “I cannot approve something that’s going to target me more than it will target you.”

Clapprood defended the technology and asked the council to trust her to pursue it carefully. “The facial recognition technology does not come along and drop a net from the sky and carry you off to prison,” she said, noting that it could serve as a useful investigative tool by flagging wanted suspects.

The council hasn’t yet acted, and the Springfield mayor has threatened to veto the proposal that Ramos plans to re-introduce in January.

Similar debates across the country are highlighting racial concerns and dueling interpretations of the technology’s accuracy.

“I wish our leadership would look at the science and not at the hysteria,” said Lancaster, California, Mayor R. Rex Parris, whose city north of Los Angeles is working to install more than 10,000 streetlight cameras Parris says could monitor known pedophiles and gang members. “There are ways to build in safeguards.”

Research suggests that facial recognition systems can be accurate, at least under ideal conditions. A review of the industry’s leading facial recognition algorithms by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found they were more than 99% accurate when matching high-quality head shots to a database of other frontal poses.

But trying to identify a face from a video feed — a potentially useful technique for detectives — can cause accuracy rates to plunge. NIST found that recognition accuracy could fall below 10% when using ceiling-mounted cameras commonly found in stores and government buildings.

The agency hasn’t studied the performance of facial recognition on body camera footage, although experts generally believe that its often-jumpy video will render the technique even less reliable.

In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a temporary ban on police departments using facial recognition with body cameras. Some other states have similar restrictions.

While California’s three-year moratorium was opposed by law enforcement groups, companies that provide video-surveillance equipment have mostly reacted with shrugs. Many businesses were already moving carefully before subjecting themselves to the legal, ethical and publicity risks of a technology that is facing backlash from privacy, civil liberties and racial justice advocates, not to mention bipartisan concern in Congress.

Axon, which supplies body-worn cameras to most of California’s big cities and is the biggest provider nationwide, had already formed an AI ethics board of outside experts that concluded facial recognition technology isn’t yet reliable enough to justify its use on police cameras. False identification could lead someone to be hurt or killed, said Axon CEO Rick Smith.

Even if facial recognition software was perfectly accurate, Smith said in an interview, the ability to track people’s whereabouts raises constitutional and privacy concerns. “Do we want everybody who walks near a police officer to get their face identified and logged in a database?” he said.

Microsoft last year turned down an unnamed California police agency’s request to equip all police cars and body cameras with Microsoft’s facial recognition software, the company’s president and chief legal officer Brad Smith wrote in a new book on tech policy. He said police wanted to match a photo of anyone pulled over, even routinely, against a database of suspects for other crimes.

Smith said the technology would wrongly identify too many people, especially women and people of color. The executive has warned that unregulated facial recognition could unleash “mass surveillance on an unprecedented scale,” though he’s opposed to an outright ban. Microsoft in November hired an attorney to speak out against a proposed ban in Portland, Maine.

Other companies including Amazon, which markets a face identification system called Rekognition to law enforcement, have shown fewer qualms about selling their technology to police. Some law enforcement agencies feed images from video surveillance into software that can search government databases or social media for a possible match.

Todd Pastorini, general manager at biometric forensics company DataWorks Plus, said it’s important to distinguish between real-time crowd surveillance — which is rare in the U.S. — and the “extremely effective” method of running images through a pool of known police mugshots or driver’s license photos to help identify a suspect.

“Society and the public are going to get frustrated” if governments block law enforcement from adopting a technology that keeps improving, he said.

Among his South Carolina company’s biggest face-matching clients are Detroit and New York City, the latter of which first adopted facial recognition in 2011 and also uses software from French company Idemia.

“I’d absolutely be opposed to a ban,” New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill told reporters this fall.

O’Neill, who retired in early December, added that facial recognition hits are just one part of an investigation. “There is so much video in New York City today that to not use facial recognition would be irresponsible,” he said.

Crimes and Courts

Family of Corey Ruiz to Speak Publicly for First Time Alongside Attorney Ben Crump Following Fatal Madison Police Shooting

Published

3 weeks ago

July 24, 2026

FNN NEWS

MADISON, Wis. (July 24, 2026) — Nationally renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump will join the family of Corey Ruiz at a news conference Saturday in Madison, where family members are expected to speak publicly for the first time since Ruiz was fatally shot by a Madison police officer.

Ruiz’s family, joined by attorneys Ben Crump, Steve Hart, and B’Ivory Lamarr, along with State Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D–Madison), is expected to call for a full, independent investigation into the shooting and seek accountability for the circumstances surrounding Ruiz’s death.

According to the Madison Police Department, Ruiz was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon during an encounter with officers at a busy intersection on the city’s near-east side. Police have stated that Ruiz allegedly produced a fixed-blade knife and injured an officer during a struggle before an officer discharged his firearm.

However, video recorded by a bystander and reported by the Wisconsin Examiner appears to show an officer stomping Ruiz while he was on the ground as the first gunshot was fired. The video has drawn increased public attention and renewed questions regarding the officers’ use of force during the incident.

The incident has also highlighted the fact that Madison police officers do not wear body cameras, prompting additional calls from community members and civil rights advocates for greater transparency and independent review.

Scheduled Speakers

Corey Ruiz’s family
Attorney Ben Crump
Attorney Steve Hart
Attorney B’Ivory Lamarr
State Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D–Madison)

The news conference is expected to address the family’s response to the shooting, outline the legal team’s next steps, and reiterate calls for an independent investigation into the incident.

Central Florida News

Orlando Police Arrest Three Following Shooting at West Lakes Apartment Complex

Published

1 month ago

July 10, 2026

FNN NEWS

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN NEWS) — Orlando Police arrested three suspects Thursday following a shooting at the Pendana at West Lakes Club Apartments that led to a high-speed pursuit spanning Orange and Seminole counties.

Police said no injuries were reported despite multiple rounds being fired during the incident.

Shooting Reported at Apartment Complex

According to the Orlando Police Department (OPD), officers responded at approximately 3:50 p.m. Thursday, July 9, to the 2000 block of Orange Center Boulevard after receiving reports of gunfire at the Pendana at West Lakes Club Apartments.

During the investigation, detectives reviewed surveillance video showing occupants of a black sedan and a black SUV firing multiple rounds at two individuals riding scooters through the apartment complex.

Investigators said everyone involved fled the scene before officers arrived.

Police Locate Suspect Vehicles

Shortly after the shooting, Orlando officers located both suspect vehicles in the North Pine Hills area.

With assistance from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO), officers conducted a traffic stop on the black sedan and detained two suspects without incident.

Officers later located the black SUV and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop, triggering a police pursuit.

Helicopter Assists During Pursuit

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit tracked the fleeing SUV from the air while directing responding officers on the ground.

The pursuit ended in Altamonte Springs, where the driver stopped in front of a Burlington Coat Factory, abandoned the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot.

Orlando Police officers quickly apprehended the suspect.

Three Suspects Arrested

Police identified the suspects as:

Jacorey Lowery (DOB: July 8, 2006)

Charges:

Attempted Felony Murder (Firearm/Discharge)
Discharging a Firearm at Residential Property

Quincy Desponosse (DOB: April 21, 2008)

Charge:

Principal to Attempted First-Degree Murder

Semaj Blackshear

Charges:

Principal to Attempted Felony Murder with a Firearm
Fleeing and Eluding Law Enforcement at High Speed with Disregard for Public Safety or Property
Resisting an Officer Without Violence
Juvenile Violation of Probation

None of the Suspects Lived at the Complex

Investigators determined that none of the three individuals arrested were residents of the Pendana at West Lakes Club Apartments.

Police have not released information regarding a possible motive or whether the suspects knew the two individuals on the scooters.

Investigation Continues

The Orlando Police Department said the investigation remains active.

Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact the Orlando Police Department or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).

Crimes and Courts

Attorney General Uthmeier Announces Charges Against Six in South Florida Drug Trafficking Enterprise

Published

2 months ago

June 13, 2026

FNN NEWS

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FNN NEWS) — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced charges against six individuals accused of participating in a multi-county drug trafficking enterprise operating in Broward County and surrounding areas of South Florida.

The defendants — Isaac Lakeith Bruton, Wayne Morgan Brutton Jr., Wayne Morgan Brutton Sr., Omar Dwayne Cooper, Rene Danger Jr., and Cleon Fabian Reid — are accused of participating in an organized criminal enterprise that allegedly distributed large quantities of illegal narcotics and laundered proceeds from drug sales.

Investigation Spanned Multiple Agencies

According to the Attorney General’s Office, the charges stem from a joint investigation led by the Broward Sheriff’s Office Organized Crime Unit and the Office of Statewide Prosecution, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

“This joint investigation dismantled a criminal enterprise that pumped dangerous drugs into Florida communities,” Uthmeier said in a statement. “Through the tireless work of the Office of Statewide Prosecution and our great law enforcement partners, we are taking on more criminal prosecutions than ever before.”

Alleged Drug Trafficking Operation

Investigators allege the organization obtained and distributed kilogram quantities of cocaine, multiple pounds of marijuana, prescription pills and other controlled substances throughout South Florida.

According to authorities, members of the enterprise converted powdered cocaine into crack cocaine near distribution locations and utilized vehicles equipped with hidden compartments to transport narcotics.

The investigation further alleges that Bruton and Cooper laundered proceeds from drug sales through the purchase of vehicles, real estate, business investments, classic car restorations and jewelry.

Charges Filed

Bruton and Cooper are each charged with:

Racketeering (First-Degree Felony)
Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (First-Degree Felony)
Money Laundering (Third-Degree Felony)

Brutton Jr., Brutton Sr., Danger Jr., and Reid are each charged with:

Racketeering (First-Degree Felony)
Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (First-Degree Felony)

Potential Penalties

If convicted, Bruton and Cooper face up to 75 years in prison. Brutton Jr., Brutton Sr., Danger Jr., and Reid each face up to 60 years in the Florida Department of Corrections.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant Statewide Prosecutors Jillian Tate and Nicholas Kaleel.

Presumption of Innocence

All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.