A Case of Mistaken Identity
Randal Quran Reid, a 29-year-old Black man from Georgia, has filed a civil lawsuit against the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO) in Louisiana, alleging that he was wrongfully arrested and detained for nearly a week because of the misuse of facial recognition technology. Reid claims that he was falsely identified as a suspect who used stolen credit cards to buy about $15,000 worth of designer purses in Jefferson and East Baton Rouge Parishes in Louisiana.
Reid was driving to his mother’s home outside of Atlanta the day after Thanksgiving in 2023 when he was pulled over by DeKalb County police officers, who told him that he had a warrant out of Jefferson Parish. Reid said he had never heard of that county and had never been to Louisiana. He was then taken to a DeKalb County jail to await extradition to Louisiana.
“I asked them why was I being locked up,” Reid told ABC News. “What is it [the warrant] even saying that I did? And then they just kept telling me that it was out of their jurisdiction and they didn’t really know.”
Faulty Facial Recognition Technology
According to the lawsuit filed by Reid, the JPSO deputy Andrew Bartholomew used facial recognition technology to identify Reid as a suspect in the credit card fraud case. The technology allegedly generated three names: Quran and two others. The lawsuit alleges that Bartholomew did not conduct any further investigation to verify the identity of the suspect and simply sought arrest warrants for all three names.
The lawsuit also claims that the facial recognition technology used by the JPSO was unreliable and biased, especially against people of color. The lawsuit cites studies that show that facial recognition technology has higher error rates for Black and brown people than for white people. The lawsuit also points out that the JPSO did not have any policies or procedures to regulate the use of facial recognition technology or to ensure its accuracy.
A Violation of Civil Rights
Reid’s lawsuit argues that his wrongful arrest and detention violated his constitutional rights, including his right to due process, his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and his right to equal protection under the law. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and injunctive relief to prevent the JPSO from using facial recognition technology in the future.
Reid’s lawyer, Gary Andrews, said that his client suffered emotional distress and trauma as a result of his ordeal. He also said that Reid’s case was not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern of false arrests based on faulty facial recognition technology.
“Every time I see police in my rearview mirror, he said, “it just flashes back my mind to what could have happened even though I hadn’t done anything,” Reid said.
Other Cases of False Arrests
Reid is not the only Black person who has been falsely arrested because of facial recognition technology. In recent years, at least five other Black plaintiffs have filed lawsuits against law enforcement agencies across the country, alleging that they were misidentified by facial recognition technology and then wrongly arrested.
One of them is Robert Williams, a Michigan father who sued the Detroit Police Department for wrongfully arresting and jailing him based on faulty facial recognition technology. Williams was accused of stealing watches from a store, but later proved his innocence with receipts and witnesses. Another is Nijeer Parks, a New Jersey man who sued the Woodbridge Police Department for wrongfully arresting him based on faulty facial recognition technology. Parks was accused of shoplifting and trying to hit a police officer with a car, but later proved his innocence with alibis and phone records.
These cases have raised concerns about the accuracy and fairness of facial recognition technology, especially when it is used by law enforcement without proper oversight or accountability. Some civil rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have called for a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement until its reliability and impact on human rights are fully assessed.
