An innocent man was arrested after being falsely identified by authorities in Louisiana using facial recognition technology.
The use of the tech led to the mistaken arrest of 28-year-old Georgia man Randall Reid on a fugitive warrant, the defendant’s attorney said.
Reid was jailed on November 25 in DeKalb County, Georgia, after authorities misidentified him as the suspect in a purse theft in Jefferson Parish and Baton Rouge.
Despite insisting that he’d never even been to Louisiana, Reid spent six days in jail for the crime that he didn’t commit.
“They told me I had a warrant out of Jefferson Parish. I said, ‘What is Jefferson Parish?'” Reid said.
“I have never been to Louisiana a day in my life.
“Then they told me it was for theft.
“So not only have I not been to Louisiana; I also don’t steal.”
Reid, who is black, was released on December 1 when authorities acknowledged their mistake.
The sheriff in Jefferson rescinded the warrant due to differences like a mole on Reid’s face.
According to Reid’s lawyer, Tommy Calogero, there was also about a 40-pound difference between Reid and the purse thief in the surveillance image.
Critics of the technology say it results in a higher rate of misidentification of minorities over white people, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
Reid’s case renews criticism of facial recognition technology, particularly in relation to those with dark skin where the technology is shown to be even more inaccurate.
Research shows that this technology is more likely to misidentify black people and those with darker skin than white people.
Nevertheless, the technology has low accuracy levels overall.
