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Lawton council approves $13,612 grant to pilot facial‑recognition software amid privacy concerns
Summary
The Lawton City Council ratified acceptance of a $13,612 SAFE Oklahoma grant to buy Clear AI facial‑recognition software for investigations. Police and a crime analyst said the tool uses open‑source images and audit trails; residents warned of privacy and bias risks. Council approved staff review of peer‑city policies.
The Lawton City Council on Jan. 27 voted 8–0 to ratify the mayor’s acceptance of a $13,612 SAFE Oklahoma grant from the Oklahoma attorney general’s office to purchase Clear AI facial‑recognition software for the Lawton Police Department.
Police officials told the council the tool is intended to speed investigative searches of images that are already publicly available online. ‘‘It’s basically a lead‑generating tool,’’ Amanda King, a crime analyst, said, explaining the system matches an uploaded image against open‑source content such as social media and publicly posted images.
Deputy Chief Hines said the department would not install cameras or build a community face database. ‘‘We do not have a database for this,’’ he said, adding the software requires an uploaded image tied to an active case and produces a percentage‑based probability that must be independently verified by detectives.
During public comment, Cindy McIntyre urged caution and cited Fourth Amendment protections and examples of surveillance misuse; Alexander Smith and Landon Holly raised questions about false positives and algorithmic bias. Speakers pointed to national studies and NIST testing as context for accuracy and fairness questions.
Council members pressed staff on recurring annual costs after the quoted price rose since the grant application: police said the vendor’s annual subscription had increased since July and that the department was negotiating a lower renewal price; if the city cannot cover recurring costs from grants, the expense would enter the budget process.
Mayor Booker and several council members asked the city manager and city attorney to collect model policies from other cities before broad deployment. Council also directed staff to work with the police department and the vendor on training, role‑based licensing and public‑records transparency and to return with recommended policy language before the system is put into active use.
The item was approved as part of the consent lineup after separate public comment and council discussion. The motion to ratify the grant and pursue accompanying policy work carried 8–0.
