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Facial Recognition Caused Georgia Man's Wrongful Arrest

Analyst Randall Reid, 28, was jailed the day after Thanksgiving despite having a mole and being 40 pounds heavier than the suspect on film.

Facial recognition technology has resulted in a Georgia man being wrongfully arrested.

According to the Associated Press, 28-year-old transportation analyst Randall Reid was accused of being a fugitive with a warrant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, due to facial recognition technology. Reid was taken in custody on Nov. 25 by local authorities in Dekalb County, Georgia, and held until Dec. 1. Reid told the AP, “They told me I had a warrant out of Jefferson Parish. I said, ‘What is Jefferson Parish?’ I have never been to Louisiana a day in my life. Then they told me it was for theft. So not only have I not been to Louisiana, I also don’t steal.”

He continued, “Not eating, not sleeping. I’m thinking about these charges. Not doing anything because I don’t know what’s really going on the whole time. They didn’t even try to make the right ID.”

Reid was accused of stealing luxury handbags. He was eventually released due to a mole on his face and a 40-pound weight difference that did not match the suspect seen on surveillance footage. Tommy Calogero, his attorney, said detectives “tacitly” admitted to the error, according to The New Orleans Advocate.

Calogero explained, “Police could have checked his height and weight or made an effort to speak to him or asked to walk through his house to look for evidence. He would have complied. There are 300 million people in this country. All of us have someone who appears identical to us.”

Facial recognition technology critics have long said the device is racially biased. Clare Garvie, training resource counsel with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said about  facial recognition technology, “When law enforcement officials use the technology as the sole basis for arrests, they are relying on unproven methods.”

It’s unknown if Reid will file a lawsuit, but authorities in Dekalb County, Georgia, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, have not released a statement about the wrongful arrest. How facial recognition was used in Reid’s arrest is also unclear, and it’s unknown how his face got in Baton Rouge’s police system. The New Orleans Advocate reports authorities denied requests to release Reid’s arrest warrant, which was issued in July.

According to The New York Times, facial recognition technology has resulted in at least three wrongful arrests.

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