{
  "id": "R-1976",
  "title": "Face recognition misidentification leads to wrongful arrest of Robert Williams, Detroit Police Department, Michigan, 2020–2024",
  "short_title": "Face recognition match leads to Robert Williams's wrongful arrest",
  "jurisdiction": {
    "country": "United States",
    "region": "Detroit, Michigan",
    "level": "municipal"
  },
  "domain": "policing",
  "system_type": "face_recognition",
  "system_name": "DataWorks Plus face recognition via Michigan State Police SNAP database",
  "deployed_by": "Detroit Police Department",
  "year_start": 2020,
  "year_end": 2024,
  "harm_type": "individual",
  "subject_count_estimate": 1,
  "subject_identification": "named_public_advocate",
  "oversight_trigger": "litigation",
  "oversight_date": "2024-06-28",
  "remedy_status": "partial",
  "documentation_status": "verified",
  "summary_50w": "Detroit police ran a blurry surveillance still from a watch-store shoplifting through DataWorks Plus face recognition, which matched Robert Williams; he was arrested at home in January 2020 despite being out of state on the day of the theft. His 2021 federal lawsuit settled in June 2024, barring arrests based solely on face recognition results.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "type": "other",
      "title": "Detroit Takes Important Step in Curbing the Harms of Face Recognition Technology",
      "url": "https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/07/detroit-takes-important-step-curbing-harms-face-recognition-technology",
      "publisher": "Electronic Frontier Foundation",
      "date": null,
      "access_date": "2026-04-21",
      "is_primary": false,
      "notes": "Originating report"
    },
    {
      "type": "other",
      "title": "Williams v. City of Detroit (face recognition false arrest)",
      "url": "https://www.aclu.org/cases/williams-v-city-of-detroit-face-recognition-false-arrest",
      "publisher": "ACLU",
      "date": null,
      "access_date": "2026-10-10",
      "is_primary": false
    },
    {
      "type": "other",
      "title": "Civil Rights Advocates Achieve the Nation's Strongest Police Department Policy on Facial Recognition Technology",
      "url": "https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/civil-rights-advocates-achieve-the-nations-strongest-police-department-policy-on-facial-recognition-technology",
      "publisher": "ACLU",
      "date": null,
      "access_date": "2026-10-10",
      "is_primary": false
    }
  ],
  "tags": [
    "facial_recognition_misid",
    "wrongful_arrest",
    "racial_disparity",
    "settlement",
    "policy_change",
    "police_face_recognition"
  ],
  "extraction_metadata": {
    "first_collected": "2026-04-21T11:42:05.050407+00:00",
    "last_verified": "2026-10-10T16:06:44.084191+00:00",
    "verified_by": "human_review"
  }
}