Milwaukee meeting spotlights public opposition and police pitch for facial‑recognition software

Dozens of Milwaukee residents urged the Fire and Police Commission to oppose the Milwaukee Police Department’s plan to acquire facial‑recognition software, saying the tool risks racial misidentification, privacy violations and data sharing with outside agencies and private vendors. The department presented case studies it said showed the technology helped solve violent crimes and described plans to seek two search licenses from a vendor, Biometrica, in exchange for access to 2,500,000 jail records; the presentation was an informational communication to the commission, not a formal policy change.

Why it matters: Speakers and community groups said facial recognition technology (FRT) is biased against people of color, can chill protest and free‑speech rights, and risks exposing Milwaukeeans’ data to federal agencies or foreign companies. MPD officials said the tool would be used only as an investigative lead, never as the sole basis for probable cause, and that an SOP (standard operating procedure) would be drafted if the department moves forward.

MPD presentation and how the department said it would use FRT MPD Chief of Staff Heather Huff and criminal investigations staff said the department does not currently own its own facial‑recognition system and presented the item as an initial communication before any acquisition or formal SOP. Inspector Paul Lau and Captains from the Criminal Investigations Bureau described multiple locally reported cases in which partner agencies’ use of facial‑recognition searches produced investigative leads that MPD detectives later corroborated.

The department said Biometrica has offered two search licenses in exchange for access to about 2,500,000 booking photos that MPD maintains; additional licenses would cost roughly $12,000 each per year, according to presenters. MPD representatives said Biometrica’s product searches only law‑enforcement arrest photos (not social media or DMV photos), that Biometrica purges submitted surveillance images…