NEW ORLEANS, La. (WGNO)— The New Orleans Police Department proposed an ordinance to reinstate facial recognition software that was banned by the City Council in 2020.
The Eye on Surveillance Coalition has pushed back, claiming the software is too costly to bring back.
“I just want to feel safe,” Marvin Arnold, a member of the coalition, said. “I want my girlfriend to feel safe when she’s home.”
Arnold told WGNO News, a crime camera was installed across the street from his home. His neighbor was robbed at gunpoint at the end of March and Arnold hopes the man can get justice.
“That’s why we’re doing this,” he said. “We want to follow the data and find the most cost-effective, most beneficial ways to keep us all safe.”
NOPD Superintendent Shawn Ferguson said the best way is to bring back facial recognition technology.
“We already use facial recognition on a daily basis — our community is that tool,” Ferguson said. “Whenever we put out a still of that suspect or person of interest, the community steps up. [But this] is photographs and still shots that our investigators are obtaining during the course of their investigation, be it from a business or residential camera.”
However, some New Orleanians believed technology was not the perfect answer.
“They misidentify dark-skinned women and trans individuals 3x more than any other demographic,” Eye on Surveillance member Renard Bridgewater said. “In addition to the fact that it continuously cost taxpayers within our city money. Those cameras and surveillance technology are not Robocop. They don’t prevent crime.”
The Criminal Justice Commission will discuss bringing the software back in their meeting Tuesday.