Sheriff Interested in Using Facial Recognition Technology

Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office vehicle in Sherman Park. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball confirmed Tuesday that her agency is looking into using facial recognition software.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) is currently assessing a data-sharing agreement related to facial recognition technology, Ball told supervisors on the Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services Committee on June 17.

The MCSO is engaged in conversations with Biometrica, a Nevada-based company. Biometrica insists it is not a facial recognition company, but a “big data identity management company.” It engages a third-party “black-box” facial recognition algorithm to provide the service that the MCSO and the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) are interested in.

Chief Deputy Brian Barkow recently told supervisors the agency is not interested in using facial recognition to scan random individuals in public, or within existing surveillance systems and cameras. The agency is interested in the technology for identifying individuals when the MCSO has an image of a suspect in a crime, Barkow said.

“The sheriff’s office has never and will never, nor do we intend to, install it on existing cameras where facial recognition technology is constantly scanning images,” Barkow said.

MCSO and MPD have both received demonstrations of Biometrica’s services. MPD is considering providing the company with 2.5 million mugshots in exchange for free access to its services, according to proposals it has submitted to the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission.

The Milwaukee County Board will vote on a resolution this month, authored by Sup. Juan Miguel Martinez, which outlines concerns about MCSO’s potential adoption of facial recognition technology and requests development of a county facial recognition policy. The judiciary committee voted unanimously to recommend adoption to the full board.

Leaders of local civic and advocacy organizations spoke in favor of the resolution. Emilio De Torre, executive director of Milwaukee Turners, said the resolution provides an “excellent beginning to protecting the rights of Milwaukee County residents.”

Amanda Merkwae, Advocacy Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said Milwaukee residents “deserve to know how we are being surveilled with our own tax dollars.”

Heba Mohammad, with Common Power, said pro-Palestinian protests in Milwaukee have often been accompanied by local law enforcement surveillance, and expressed concern that facial recognition technology could be added to this effort.

“Getting ahead of [facial recognition technology], as this resolution would do, is advisable and within your duty, because intentions can change overnight,” Mohammad said.

The ACLU and Milwaukee Turners both signed onto a recent letter calling for the adoption of a Community Control over Police Surveilance (CCOPS) ordinance, “democratize the decision-making process” for surveillance technology and practices in Milwaukee.

Ball said a potential data sharing agreement is being reviewed by the Office of Corporation Counsel and the county’s Information Management Services Department (IMSD) to “ensure our procedures are within the scope of the law, guarding the constitutional rights of everyone and significantly [reducing] potential legal exposure to Milwaukee County.”

Ball and Barkow both said facial recognition technology would never be the sole basis for an arrest or charges from the District Attorney’s Office. “First of all, the district attorney’s office would never even look at a case like that, much less charge it,” Barkow said.

Ball said the agency is interested in using the technology as an “investigative tool.” Any identification would still be subject to further investigation, Barkow said.