A Black man spent 10 days in jail after he was misidentified by facial recognition, a new lawsuit claims

December 29, 2020

A Black man spent 10 days in jail after he was misidentified by facial recognition, a new lawsuit claims

King's Cross facial recognition camera — London's King's Cross station was revealed to have trialled some facial recognition technology.
TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images

A Black man is suing his local police department after wrongly spending 10 days in jail – claiming he was misidentified by facial recognition software.
New Jersey resident Nijeer Parks said he had 'never been' to the site of a shoplifting incident, but was arrested after contacting police to clear his name.
State attorney general Gurbir Grewal said the city had ordered police to stop using facial recognition technology.
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A Black man spent 10 days in jail after being misidentified by facial recognition cameras, according to a new lawsuit.

In early 2019, police were called to a shoplifting incident at the Hampton Inn hotel, in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The suspect fled the scene, however, clipping a police car with his own vehicle on his way.

Weeks later, local resident Nijeer Parks learned police had issued a warrant for his arrest. Parks, who doesn't have a driver's license, asked his cousin to drive him to the police station clear his name.

"I had no idea what this was about," he told local news site NJ.com. "I'd never been to Woodbridge before...didn't even know for sure where it was." Upon arriving at the station, however, Parks was handcuffed and spent 10 days in jail.

Parks' attorney claims police and prosecutors pursued his client for a year, based only on evidence provided through facial recognition cameras.

"I did have a background, but I'd been home since 2016 and I had been in no trouble," he added. "The whole thing scared the heck out of me. I've been trying to do the right thing with my life."

The incident isn't the only case of mistaken identity via facial recognition technology, which experts say has a racial bias against ethnic minorities.

Earlier this year, Robert Julian-Borchak Williams was arrested in Detroit, accused of shoplifting five watches costing $3,800 from a Shinola store in October 2018.

Unbeknownst to Williams at the time, he had been misidentified by facial recognition tech called DataWorks Plus, which was used by Michigan State Police.

In the latest lawsuit, Parks' attorney said police used excessive force, false imprisonment, and cruel and unusual punishment, and is seeking compensation for physical and emotional suffering.

New Jersey's attorney general Gurbir Grewal said the city had ordered police to stop using facial recognition technology.

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