Dallas police implement AI facial recognition technology – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Dallas Police Department investigators will begin using facial recognition technology to catch people suspected of crimes.

The police chief told a group of council members Monday that they had been waiting years to see how the program worked in other departments.

They aim to use a somewhat controversial program. ClearView AI searches the internet for billions of images, including those on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. It then uses artificial intelligence to identify the people wanted by the police.

Police Chief Eddie Garcia told the committee that they plan to implement the program in six months and have already used it in individual cases. He points to a case that helps investigators find a suspected child pornographer. They identified the man after he was captured in the background of a trade show photo.

NBC 6 in South Florida reported on the launch of ClearView AI in that city. During a 2020 protest that turned violent, police used the program to find and arrest a 25-year-old woman who they saw on camera throwing rocks at police officers.

“We used the technology to identify violent protesters who attacked police officers, damaged police property and set fire to property,” Deputy Police Chief Armando Aguilar said at the time.

“I think this will be game-changing,” Dallas Police Chief Garcia said.

Garcia said his department has been waiting to see other cities’ problems with the technology and said Dallas will have a “robust” policy. They do not allow police to attend fishing trips. Department policy requires investigators to search for specific suspects accused of specific crimes and have them evaluated by a supervisor at the city’s Real Time Crime Center.

“I have always had great concerns about privacy, be it data or other things. This feels very comfortable to me. “This feels like efficiency and is just the next step,” Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn said from the podium.

Major Stephen Williams said it would help officers catch suspects in large crowds such as at sporting events and concerts.

“These large events generate additional photos in the solution. “The more publicity and attention we get through the public events when people post photos, the more helpful it is to the individual process of how we can identify individual people in places,” Williams said.

The department will fund the program with grants outside of the city budget. For comparison, the city of Miami contracted with ClearView AI for $12,000 in 2020.