Police Facial Recognition Use Spikes Following Capitol Riot
State and local law enforcement agencies are increasing their use of facial recognition software to identify Capitol riot suspects, even in areas with recent reform laws.
State and local law enforcement agencies are increasing their use of facial recognition technology to identify individuals who participated in the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Officials are relying heavily on controversial software like Clearview AI, which matches photos of unidentified suspects against a massive database of publicly posted images from social media platforms.
This surge in technology use occurs even in jurisdictions that recently enact police reform laws regulating such surveillance. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker states that local and state police in his commonwealth are actively searching facial recognition databases under a new law that requires officers to obtain a court order or registry approval before running searches.
The FBI collects more than 100,000 digital images from the violent insurrection and shares this data through local and state fusion centers. While more than 70 people face charges nationwide so far, Baker notes that none are from Massachusetts, though authorities expect many more arrests in the coming weeks as the investigative work continues.