Community leaders in Milwaukee are raising concerns about the potential use of facial recognition technology by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
The law enforcement agency is proposing to use the technology for active investigations. Chief Deputy Brian Barkow said it would not be used to charge someone with a crime.
“It is a tool that’s utilized to point an investigator, potentially, in the right direction,” Barkow said during a Tuesday county board committee meeting.
The software would search booking photos or sex offender registry entries, not social media or other websites, according to Barkow.
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But several community leaders in Milwaukee raised concerns about privacy and the potential bias of the technology. Some are also concerned about the possibility of federal immigration enforcement agents accessing the software.
“We cannot ignore the political climate that we are in and acknowledging that more surveillance and more policing in our communities is not only harmful, it is dangerous and it is irresponsible,” said Angela Lang, executive director of Black Leaders Organizing Communities.
Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez said he was “vehemently opposed” to the use of the technology.
“Where we are right now, with the administration that is currently running this country, this would absolutely destroy and shatter public trust, completely, as it is,” Martinez said during the meeting.
After the meeting, Barkow said the sheriff’s office is looking at a potential contract with the facial recognition company Biometrica. Emilio De Torre, the executive director of the Milwaukee Turners, already spoke out against the Milwaukee Police Department looking into an agreement with that company over the summer.
“This is a ridiculously dangerous time to allow any additional surveillance and tracking and face mapping software,” De Torre said.
De Torre said he’s concerned about the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office use of license plate reader cameras, known as Flock cameras. He said he’d like to see the county not use either form of technology.
“They’re insidious, they violate our privacy rights and they become something very tempting for misuse,” De Torre said.
Barkow said the facial recognition software would not be used “agency-wide,” and would only be used by investigative staff at the county sheriff’s office. When it comes to federal immigration enforcement agents, Barkow said, “We only share what information is required by federal law.”
A Biometrica executive who was at Tuesday’s meeting said the company does not work with ICE.
The Milwaukee Police Department recently considered entering into an agreement with Biometrica. In May, 11 out of the city’s 15 alders signed a letter to Milwaukee’s police chief opposing the use of any facial recognition technology.
In an email, a spokesperson for the department wrote that it does not currently have an agreement in place with the company.
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