Porcha Woodruff, arrested after false facial recognition, sues Detroit

Her children, ages 6 and 12, burst into tears when they realized it was no joke. She told them to wake up her fiancé and tell them “Mommy’s going to jail,” she said.

Woodruff, 32, learned that the police had charged her with robbery and carjacking after facial recognition software mistakenly matched an eight-year-old photo of her — taken when she was detained for driving with an expired license — with video footage of a suspect. The victim, who had been robbed and carjacked at gunpoint, had also pointed to the old photo of her on a lineup.

She filed a lawsuit against the city of Detroit and a detective in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Thursday, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment and a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights to be protected from unreasonable seizures.

At least two others have filed lawsuits against the Detroit police after they were arrested following an erroneous match on facial recognition software. A 2019 case prompted the department to revise its guidelines, limiting its use to only violent crime or home invasion investigations.

“Facial recognition technology has long been known for its inherent flaws and unreliability, particularly when attempting to identify black individuals such as Porcha Woodruff,” the lawsuit stated. “It should be understood that facial recognition alone cannot serve as probable cause for arrests.”

According to the suit, Woodruff asked the police on her doorstep how she could be guilty of a recent carjacking when she is eight months pregnant.

Upon arriving at the Detroit Detention Center, she informed staff that she has gestational diabetes. Detective LaShauntia Oliver, who is named in the lawsuit, then questioned her on whether she knew certain people or frequented a gas station linked to the case, and asked her to show her tattoos. The detective also told Woodruff that the carjacking victim had not described the suspect as a pregnant woman.

“Despite knowing the plaintiff was not involved in the robbery or carjacking, Detective Oliver directed plaintiff back to the holding cell,” the lawsuit stated. It also accused the police department of failing to use a more recent driver’s license photo of Woodruff in the facial recognition software and in photo lineups, and of neglecting to ask another suspect in custody whether he recognized Woodruff.

“I have reviewed the allegations contained in the lawsuit. They are very concerning,” Detroit Police Chief James E. White said in an email statement. “We are taking this matter very seriously, but we cannot comment further at this time due to the need for additional investigation.” Oliver did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Monday.

There is no comprehensive data on how many law enforcement agencies use facial recognition technology, according to the Pew Research Center, but a single provider has said that it has at least 3,100 U.S. law enforcement agencies as clients. Several other countries have adopted the technology for various purposes, including China, Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Finland, despite concerns from some civil rights groups and privacy activists.

FBI, Pentagon helped research facial recognition for street cameras, drones

In September, U.S. House lawmakers introduced a bill to regulate and rein in law enforcement’s use of the technology, stating that “a lack of greater transparency and reasonable limits on its use threatens Americans’ civil liberties.”

The case against Woodruff was dropped in March, but she says the arrest has plagued her with anxiety, depression and extreme stress during what was already a difficult pregnancy.

At the detention center in Detroit, she says she was forced to stand or sit on a concrete bench for about 11 hours before she was arraigned and released on a $100,000 personal bond. Immediately after being released, she went to a hospital, where she and her unborn baby were diagnosed with a low heart rate and treated for dehydration, she said. She also suffered a panic attack while there.

“I don’t feel like anyone should have to go through something like this, being falsely accused,” she said. “We all look like someone.”