1/2024: Detroit resident LaDonna Crutchfield, 37, was wrongfully arrested at her home in front of her children when police allegedly using facial recognition mistook her for another black woman. Police linked her to a woman wanted for attempted murder based on a partial license plate match in combination with alleged facial recognition technology. The actual wanted person was years younger, half a foot shorter but both were heavy-set black women mixed up by police and/or their facial recognition technology per lawsuit.
During her detention, Crutchfield was forced to provide fingerprints and a DNA sample before being released after several hours. This incident caused her severe emotional distress and jeopardized her employment, as she had to miss work and feared job loss. In February 2025, Crutchfield filed a federal lawsuit against the Detroit Police Department, alleging wrongful arrest due to faulty facial recognition technology and inadequate investigation procedures.
There are ongoing concerns about the reliability of facial recognition technology, particularly its higher rate of false identifications among Black people. Notably, previous incidents in Detroit include the wrongful arrests of Robert Williams in 2020 and Porcha Woodruff in 2023, both of whom were misidentified by facial recognition systems.
More reading:
detroitnews.com+5yahoo.com+5fox2detroit.com+5reason.com+4iheart.com+4blackenterprise.com+4fox2detroit.comblackenterprise.com+1detroitnews.com+1
theguardian.com+4reason.com+4innocenceproject.org+4
https://www.yahoo.com/news/detroit-woman-suing-police-claiming-193621352.html
https://www.blackenterprise.com/detroit-woman-sues-police-facial-recognition/
