Steve Talley facial recognition wrongful arrest, jailing
Occurred: September 2014
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In September 2014, Steve Talley was arrested outside his house in Denver, Colorado, for being a suspect in two armed bank robberies, and for assaulting a police officer during the second robbery.
Identified using facial recognition technology operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), friends and his former wife verified that it was Talley in the CCTV footage shared with the police. However, he was able to prove that he was elsewhere at work for the first robbery, and was released after two months in jail.
Following his release, Talley filed a series of complaints with the Denver Police Department, seeking justice for what he alleged was a pattern of misconduct and mistreatment, including being badly beaten up by a group of officers when he had been arrested.
A year later, Talley was again arrested for the second robbery, but the chief witness changed his testimony by saying he did not now think Talley was the robber. The case collapsed, though the charges were never fully dropped.
In 2016, Talley sued the Denver Police Department, the FBI , and the city, receiving a USD 50,000 settlement.
Operator: Denver Police Department; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Developer: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Country: USA
Sector: Govt - police
Purpose: Strengthen law enforcement
Technology: Facial recognition
Issue: Accuracy/reliability
Transparency: Governance; Black box
System
Legal, regulatory
Research, advocacy
NYBSA (2020). Why Facial Recognition Technology Is Flawed
News, commentary, analysis
Page info
Type: Incident
Published: March 2023