Biometric Facial Recognition: 1 Bad
Your face could land you in jail. Police get a match and come knocking. Maryland police jailed Alonzo Sawyer in 2022. His face matched a bus assault video. Anyone who looks alike can get caught. Could you prove where you were Tuesday? Soon you'll know how to stay free.
About 15 people were wrongly arrested over face matches. That count only covers mistakes someone caught.
Police pull one grainy frame from video. That face becomes a string of numbers. Police get back a list of lookalikes.
Your phone checks you against 1 photo. Police check a stranger against huge databases.
You don't have to do anything wrong. You only have to look like someone. Then police can come to your door.
Alonzo Sawyer's arrest began with one video.
Alonzo Sawyer was a married Maryland man. A bus driver was assaulted in March 2022. The face match police got named Sawyer.
Security Boulevard reported what came next. Police arrested Sawyer for the assault.
Sawyer sat in a Maryland jail cell. The match only said he looked alike. His wife saw different height, teeth, and walk.
His wife's proof freed him after 9 days. Police had leaned too hard on the match.
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You'd think being innocent would be enough. But you must prove where you were.
Porcha Woodruff was 8 months pregnant. Detroit police held her 10 hours. Robert Williams sat 30 hours for shoplifting. Both arrests came from bad face matches.
Randal Quran Reid was jailed 6 days. Georgia police arrested him on a warrant. Louisiana deputies had run the face match.
The crimes were in Louisiana. Reid had never even been there.
None of these 3 people did the crime. Each one still sat behind bars.
AP News reported that Georgia arrest. Police use face searches to find criminals. This time, police jailed an innocent man.
The National Academies' best test hit 99.9 percent. That test used sharp, matching mugshots. On blurry video, the attacker can score like anyone. So you can look just as guilty.
A face match is never proof alone. Tonight, teach your family what to do.
Ask for a lawyer, then stay quiet. Ask what proves it besides the match. Have family collect proof you were elsewhere.
Someone picks how close counts as a match. Set it low, and lookalikes get flagged.
Good police work starts after the match. Then police check where your phone was. Officers check work records and receipts. Only then should anyone be arrested.
CaraComp's write up goes deeper on this. That page explains lab versus street matches.
The magazine Reason explained the cruel part. By design, the wrong face resembles the attacker. So a witness may pick him too.
Explain face matches to your parents. Tell your grown children the same plan. Save your receipts instead of tossing them.
Sellers promise 95 percent accuracy or better. Those tests use straight, well-lit photos. Does a doorway camera see you that well?
No one can stop a bad match. Your proof is what brings you home.
Write a lawyer's phone number down tonight. Put your work schedule on the fridge. Make sure your family knows both.
An arrest won't wait until you're ready. Gather your proof tonight, while you're home.
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