OPD plans to prepare another test for facial recognition
The Orlando Police Department plans to continue its test of Amazon’s facial-recognition software, despite an outcry from civilrights groups concerned that the technology could be abused.
City and police officials informed Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and the City Council of the decision in a memo Friday, explaining more time is needed to make a “thoughtful, precise and comprehensive recommendation” to Dyer on whether the city should eventually buy the technology.
The free pilot program used the software on eight city cameras, including five within the Orlando police headquarters and three more downtown. The initial “proof of concept” expired last month, and the city plans to sit down with Amazon to put together the parameters of the latest test — including how long it will last. Officials said it will operate similarly to the pilot.
“When we were approached, we saw the value in how we can use it to get some really violent criminals off the street,” said OPD Deputy Chief Mark Canty, who has helped run the test.
The high-tech system, called Rekognition, is touted as able to pick a person out of a crowd and track movements in real time. Orlando police officials have said such software could be used to find murder suspects or stop violent attacks before they happen.
It is not being used for investigative purposes during the pilot,
the memo states.
In the initial test, city and police officials have said they only uploaded photos of seven police officers who volunteered to participate, including Canty. That will continue, officials confirmed Monday.
However, use of the Rekognition software has drawn the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union, who wrote Chief John Mina a letter signed by several local groups, including the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, the Farmworker Association of Florida and the United Faculty of Florida at University of Central Florida, urging the department to stop its test.
“The software has the potential of being used for discriminatory immigration enforcement, monitoring individuals who attend protests and engage in other non-violent activities, or disproportionately surveilling minority communities and residents who have committed no crimes,” the ACLU letter dated June 21 reads.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said Monday that he was supportive of continuing the test and that he was “extremely proud that Amazon would want to partner with the City of Orlando, because of our strong commitment to innovative government.”
“Facial recognition is already being used everywhere. I see people open their iPhones with it. When I come back in the country, they do facial recognition for my Customs and Border Patrol entry,” Dyer said. “This is just using it in a little bit broader sense for crime prevention or crime apprehension. I think we’ll be able to balance that need. It’s not something where we’re going Big Brother and following everybody.”
Mina said the department is still trying to figure out whether the Rekognition software works, but he added that if it does work, it would “enhance public safety.”
“It’s really to prevent the next tragedy,” Mina said.
More time will allow the city to learn whether the software works with the three types of cameras Orlando uses, and how accurate and reliable it is, officials said. OPD has experimented with officers wearing hats as well as having different facial hair, Orlando Chief Information Officer Rosa Akhtarkhavari said.
When Rekognition is activated, the footage flows from the city’s data center. If the camera recognizes a person who moves into view, the software is supposed to trigger an alert to authorities. In the city’s test, the volunteer officers walk past the cameras to see if they reliably trigger an alert.
Akhtarkhavari said Amazon’s system receives footage from the city when Rekognition is activated, but it cannot retain the footage.
“It just goes in and gets inspected and moves away,” Akhtarkhavari said. “[Amazon] gets the stream, but they do not retain the stream.”
The system isn’t always active — only when officials are running tests, she said.
Canty said the department is aware of the potential privacy concerns raised by critics and vowed OPD would be responsible when using it.
“We absolutely listen to the public, because I think, particularly for police, we have to have an excellent relationship with the public,” Canty said. “When we take on a project like this, we know it’s going to be controversial. … If it works, we’re going to set parameters in place where it’s not going to be abused. That’s the time where we would have maybe some public input in our policies and listen to their concerns.”