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Chicago Police Deploy New Facial Recognition Software

By aaroncynic in News on Jul 16, 2013 7:40PM

2011_11_19_CPD.jpg Chicago has yet another high-tech tool in its already bursting shed of surveillance gear, which finally netted a success for the police department. The Sun-Times reports police arrested Pierre Martin in connection with a suspected robbery on the CTA with the help of software called NeoFace. The Chicago Police Department began using the software in mid June after purchasing it with a $5.4 million federal grant the CTA obtained through the Transportation Security Administration.

NeoFace software captures “latent face” images from photographs or videos, which enhances images and then searches them against repositories of mugshots. In Martin’s case, a photo taken from a CTA surveillance camera of a suspected mugger showing the suspect from the side ranked as one of the best possible matches. Police allege he confessed after witnesses identified him in a lineup. Chicago Police Commander Jonathan Lewin said, “This was our first success, as we pick up our training, you will see ongoing successes.”

When coupled with the City’s networked surveillance system of more than 24,000 cameras, the NeoFace software has the potential for massive amounts of abuse. Though Commander Lewin said the software is unable to provide real time monitoring and would only be used in “in active criminal cases with an unidentified criminal subject,” civil libertarians see a darker side. When the ACLU of Illinois released a report in 2011 criticizing the growing surveillance network and laxed regulations, legal director Harvey Grossman said:


“Given Chicago’s history of unlawful political surveillance, including the notorious ‘Red Squad,’ it is critical that appropriate controls be put in place to rein in these powerful and pervasive surveillance cameras now available to law enforcement throughout the City.”

Adam Schwartz, a staff lawyer for the ACLU said the organization was unaware of the software’s use. In the 2011 report, he also warned of the dark side of surveillance, saying “The ubiquity and technological reach of Chicago’s surveillance camera system present a fundamental threat to the privacy and First Amendment rights of all persons in Chicago.”

Watch a promotion for NeoFace below: