While the Milwaukee police service is moving to extend its use of facial recognition technology, a federal government’s June report finds that this technology continues to disproportionately identify people of color.
Elected officials and civil rights groups have raised this concern as a clear reason why the MPD plan should be interrupted or rejected entirely.
MPD says that there are ways to treat this limitation.
On Wednesday, June 18, the Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission will hold a public meeting to assess the potential risks linked to discrimination.
The report
In 2019, the American National Institute of Standards and Technology published a major report Evaluate how demography affects results in facial recognition systems.
The relationship revealed that the color of the skin and ethnicity often has an effect.
With domestic images of the application of laws, for example, the system has most often led to false positives – when someone is poorly identified – for American Indians. The rates have also been raised for African-American and Asian populations.
On June 2, the agency published a report showing that facial recognition systems were more likely to confuse people from the mainly darker regions for someone else. This included people from sub -Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean, compared to people from Europe and Central Asia.
Higher identification rates for people of color make it fear that facial recognition could lead to more unjustified police stops and arrests.
MPD plan
MPD chief of staff, Heather Hough, speaking at a meeting in April of the Fire and Milwaukee police committee, said the ministry had used facial recognition technology in the past in coordination with other police services.
She underlined her services to combat crime.
“Facial recognition technology is a precious tool for resolving crimes and increasing public security,” said Hough.
The mayor of Milwaukee, Johnson rider, supports the use of this technology for the same reason, Jeff Fleming, spokesperson for the mayor’s office, wrote in an email.
“Identify, apprehend and bring criminals to justice in our city reduces crime,” wrote Fleming.
During the committee meeting, Paul Lau, who oversees the MPD criminal investigation office, said the ministry was considering an official agreement with a company called Biometrica.
“We plan that this is generally used by our detective office in the investigation into the main violent crimes,” said Lau.
Community response
Emilio de Torre, executive director of Milwaukee Turners, cited some of the 2019 federal conclusions in an editorialarguing that “the recognition of the face to the routine police is not public security; It is a preventable risk that the shows in history will affect the black milwaukeeans. ”
Milwaukee Turners is One of the 19 organizations that sent a letter The Milwaukee Common Council expressing concerns about surveillance technology. The letter urges the council to adopt an order guaranteeing the participation of the community to decide if and how it is used.
Some members of the common council also opposed the MPD plan.
“It is both embarrassing and dangerous for false positives to occur at such a high pace,” the alderman José G. Pérez, President of the Common Council, told NNS.
Such defects would likely lead to violations of the regular procedure, he said.
Tackle
Hough said that MPD knows that there are people in the community who are “very suspicious” of the police using this technology, adding that their “concerns about civil freedoms are important”.
“I want to make it very clear: facial recognition alone is never sufficient. It requires human analysis and an additional survey. ”
MPD is attached to a policy “thoughtful, intentional and conscious” which considers the contribution of the community, said Hough.
Lau said MPD will examine the training of racial biases provided by Biometrica, and that people using technology will have to have training on best practices.
Biometrica directly responds to concerns about racial disparities on its website.
The company says that errors identified in 2019 come from several faults which can be countered with, for example, anti-biian training for analysts who examine facial recognition alerts.
Who can decide?
Since the Wisconsin Act 12Milwaukee’s police chief Jeffrey Norman is free to develop any official policy he chooses. The common council has the only official control that exists.
By a two -thirds vote – or 10 of the 15 aldermen from Milwaukee – The Council can block or modify MPD policies. But he must wait for a policy to be officially implemented.
State legislature could adopt a prohibition or restrictions across the State, and the common council could adopt an order regulating or prohibit its use.
The alderman Alex Brower told NNS that he would do everything in his power, as a member of the common council, to oppose the acquisition by MPD of facial recognition technology.
What residents can do
People will have the opportunity to share their opinions in terms of MPD – for and against – at a next meeting of the Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission.
Commission members will use testimonies on facial recognition to help determine the risks linked to the discrimination it may pose, said Tony Snel, president of the committee.
“We want to listen to as many people as possible,” said Snell.
The Commission can make recommendations to the Common Council, the mayor, the MPD and the Fire and the Police committee.
The committee meeting will take place at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 18 at the town hall of Milwaukee, 200 E. Wells St.
People can attend in person or practically.
Those who wish to speak must register by sending an email Erc@milwaukee.gov. Each speaker will have up to three minutes. People can also send written testimonies to this email address so that it can be included in the public file.
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