Elected officials meet with Detroit police chief, discuss concerns about facial recognition software

Legislation to be introduced to prevent bias in facial recognition technology

DETROIT – Rep. Brenda Lawrence and Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones spoke candidly with Detroit Police Chief Craig Monday about the use of facial recognition technology. 

“My job in Congress is to see we have accurate data,” said Lawrence. She expressed concern that people could be misidentified. 

Craig acknowledges the technology does misidentify women and people of color. But says it’s not the only tool used to identify suspects. And that police cannot arrest a person solely based on the software. 

After talking to the analysts who comb through potential matches, elected officials say software improvements are needed. However, they say the tour helped clear up misinformation.

On Monday, Lawrence announced she plans on introducing legislation that would help prevent bias in facial recognition software. 


About the Authors:

Priya joined WDIV-Local 4 in 2013 as a reporter and fill-in anchor. Education: B.A. in Communications/Post Grad in Advanced Journalism