State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Los Angeles Police Ban Use of Third-Party Facial Recognition

Governing: The Los Angeles Police Department has barred officers and detectives from using outside facial recognition platforms in their investigations after uncovering a handful of detectives had used a powerful commercial software platform known as Clearview AI without permission.

In a Nov. 13 directive sent to the entire agency, Deputy Chief John McMahon, who heads the LAPD's information technology bureau, noted that the only facial recognition system that LAPD officers are authorized to use is provided through the Los Angeles County Regional Identification System, which is maintained by the county and compares images input by officers against criminal booking photographs.

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