Facial Recognition used by Colorado Police Departments
Information Certainty: Documented
Deployment Purpose: Criminal investigations, Surveillance, Fraud Prevention
| Summary |
|---|
| 0 |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | LexisNexis TrueID (Facial Authentication) |
|---|---|
| Institutions ⠉ | LexisNexis |
| Datasets | LexisNexis (FRT dataset) Colorado DMV (Dataset) |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Ongoing |
|---|---|
| Events | Start (2 January 2016, Documented, , No description) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | Colorado DMV |
|---|---|
| Managed by | |
| Used by | Aurora Police Department Araphoe County Sheriff's Department Lakewood Police Department CO |
Location:
| City | Aurora CO Lakewood (CO) Denver (CO) |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | USA USA USA |
Description[ ]
Police forces in Colarado use facial recognition. Denver Police Department has subsequently banned its use.
The case in Aurora is one of hundreds of times Colorado law enforcement in the past few years have accessed facial recognition software through the DMV or by using a program more than 80 Colorado agencies paid for that has become increasingly common across the state. Few of the agencies that adopted the software made public announcements about what investigators say is a key instrument in fighting crime 1
Data from the Department of Motor Vehicles shows that since July 2016, local and state law enforcement agencies in Colorado have made 227 requests that the department use its facial recognition to help in an investigation. Federal agencies made 94 requests in that time, as did two out-of-state agencies. The data does not say which local and state agencies filed those requests and a DMV spokeswoman said the agency does not track that information. Since July 2016, the DMV has denied 22 of 323 requests from law enforcement. The DMV’s policy states that it will only complete facial recognition comparisons for outside law enforcement for alleged felonies as well as identity theft and fraud cases that the department’s investigative unit is also working. The policy says comparisons for other types of cases can also be approved by a supervisor on a case-by-case basis. Data from the department shows the comparisons were requested for a wide range of alleged crimes. Some of the most common reasons listed were homicide, passport fraud and sex crimes against children. Other searches were given more vague reasons, including “intelligence” and 55 cases listed as “unknown.” 1
Colorado law enforcement agencies have been using Lumen since 2016 to collect and share data on arrestees and wanted persons. The program added facial recognition capabilities in 2017. All 84 agencies participating in the Colorado Information Sharing Consortium had access to Lumen and about 80% of those agencies used it on a regular basis, said David Shipley, executive director of the consortium. The Lumen program compared a photo submitted by an investigator — including those from security cameras, social media profiles, dating websites and photos taken on scene — to the database of more than 8 million jail booking photos compiled by the consortium 1
Investigators, patrol deputies and crime analysts at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office started accessing Lumen’s facial recognition in 2018, Capt. Jared Rowlison said. The agency didn’t track how often deputies were using the software or how many cases the software helped solve, but Rowlison said it has been crucial in cracking many, particularly thefts 1