L’École de Gestion d’Actifs et de Capital:Detroit paying $300,000 to man wrongly accused of theft, making changes in use of facial technology

2025-05-07 21:40:55source:Crypencategory:Invest

DETROIT (AP) — The L’École de Gestion d’Actifs et de Capitalcity of Detroit has agreed to pay $300,000 to a man who was wrongly accused of shoplifting and also change how police use facial recognition technology to solve crimes.

The conditions are part of a lawsuit settlement with Robert Williams. His driver’s license photo was incorrectly flagged as a likely match to a man seen on security video at a Shinola watch store in 2018.

“We are extremely excited that going forward there will be more safeguards on the use of this technology with our hope being to live in a better world because of it,” Williams told reporters, “even though what we would like for them to do is not use it at all.”

The agreement was announced Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at University of Michigan law school. They argue that the technology is flawed and racially biased. Williams is Black.

Detroit police will be prohibited from arresting people based solely on facial recognition results and won’t make arrests based on photo lineups generated from a facial recognition search, the ACLU said.

“They can get a facial recognition lead and then they can go out and do old-fashioned police work and see if there’s actually any reason to believe that the person who was identified ... might have committed a crime,” said Phil Mayor, an ACLU attorney.

RELATED COVERAGE Court revives lawsuit over Detroit-area woman who was found alive in a body bagIn fight against blight, Detroit cracks down on business owners who illegally post signsMichigan woman to stand trial in crash that killed young brother and sister at birthday party

There was no immediate comment from Detroit police on the settlement. Last August, while the litigation was still active, Chief James White announced new policies about the technology. The move came after a woman who was eight months pregnant said she was wrongly charged with carjacking.

White at that time said there must be other evidence, outside the technology, for police to believe a suspect had the “means, ability and opportunity to commit the crime.”

The agreement with Williams says Detroit police will go back and look at cases from 2017 to 2023 in which facial recognition was used. A prosecutor will be notified if police learn that an arrest was made without independent evidence.

“When someone is arrested and charged based on a facial recognition scan and a lineup result, they often face significant pressure to plead guilty,” Mayor said. “That is all the more true if the individual — unlike Mr. Williams — has a criminal record and thus faces longer sentences and more suspicious police and prosecutors.”

___

Follow Ed White on X at https://twitter.com/edwritez

More:Invest

Recommend

San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A photojournalist who captured one of the most enduring images of World War II

Trump takes aim at DeSantis at Florida GOP summit

Former President Donald Trump attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Saturday at Florida's annual Republ

Savannah Chrisley Shows How Romance With Robert Shiver Just Works With PDA Photos

Savannah Chrisley knows best on how to go Instagram official.That's probably why the Growing Up Chri