Facial Recognition in use by Boca Raton Police
Information Certainty: Documented
Deployment Purpose: Criminal investigations, Surveillance
| Summary |
|---|
| 0 |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | FACES (FBI) Software |
|---|---|
| Institutions ⠉ | FBI |
| Datasets | FACES (FBI) Dataset |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Ongoing |
|---|---|
| Events | |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | FBI Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Fort Lauderdale Police Department |
|---|---|
| Managed by | Boco Raton Police Department |
| Used by | Boco Raton Police Department |
Location:
| City | Boca Raton (FL) |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | USA |
Description[ ]
Boco Raton Police Department is strengthening its use of facial recognition technology in 2022. Prior to this, facial recognition was in use by the department, and they were found to have run searches on protestors in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
The city of Boca Raton is letting its police force participate in a statewide facial recognition program, joining hundreds of communities in Florida employing the controversial crime-fighting technology. The City Council has unanimously approved the partnership with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, which, according to data from the FBI, maintains a database that draws from over 38 million photos of driver’s license photos, mugshots and images taken by or provided to law enforcement from security footage 1
The City Council has unanimously approved the partnership with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, which, according to data from the FBI, maintains a database that draws from over 38 million photos of driver’s license photos, mugshots and images taken by or provided to law enforcement from security footage 1
Boca Raton police and at least two other agencies — the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Fort Lauderdale police department — had submitted more than a dozen images that referenced protests or protesters for facial recognition, but no crimes, according to a June 2021 report from the Sun Sentinel. At the time, Boca Raton police said they were responding to social media posts, which police said called for rioting or looting at the Town Center Mall. The protests in Boca turned out peaceful, but police said they didn’t get any leads from running the social media photos through the database. “From our research, it doesn’t appear there were any matches,” Jessica Desir, Boca Raton police spokesperson, said last year 1
References
- a b c d "Boca Raton, Fla., Police to Join Facial Recognition Program". (2022) <https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/boca-raton-fla-police-to-join-facial-recognition-program> Accessed: 2022-06-25