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Wrongful Arrest: Robert Williams — Detroit Police Department

Oct 1, 2018Detroit, United States7 sources

Summary

The Detroit Police Department (DPD) used facial recognition technology to falsely identify and arrest Robert Williams in 2018 for a theft case. The wrongful arrest led to significant emotional distress, legal fees, and a settlement reached in 2024 with the ACLU of Michigan. The settlement included monetary damages, a ban on arrests based solely on facial recognition, and policy reforms to prevent future misuse.

Incident Details

Domain
Algorithmic Discrimination

Automated systems that produce discriminatory outcomes based on protected characteristics.

Harm Types
Wrongful Arrest
Discrimination

Differential treatment or outcomes based on protected characteristics.

Mechanism
facial recognition identification
Platforms
facial recognition technology
Companies
ACLU
Recipient
GroupRobert Williams, a person of color and potential victim of misidentification

Who Was Affected

Age
Unknown
Gender
Unknown