Detroit police wrongly arrested pregnant woman in carjacking case using facial recognition
Porcha Woodruff, who was eight months pregnant, was wrongly arrested in a carjacking case in February 2023 based partly on facial recognition technology that misidentified her. A federal judge dismissed her civil rights lawsuit against Detroit police in August 2025, though the city has since changed its facial recognition policies.
What happened
Porcha Woodruff, eight months pregnant, was arrested at her suburban Detroit home in February 2023 while preparing children for school. Police charged her in a carjacking partly based on facial recognition technology applied to gas station video from the crime scene.
Police put a file photo of Woodruff in a photo lineup after running gas station video through facial recognition technology. The carjacking victim selected Woodruff from the lineup. Police admitted she was the wrong suspect, and charges were eventually dropped.
Reported impact
Woodruff spent 10 hours in jail following her arrest. U.S. District Judge Judith Levy stated that Woodruff's arrest and time in jail 'are troubling for many reasons.'
Index analysis
Woodruff's attorney argued that investigators should have continued their investigation and not relied so heavily on facial recognition technology. Detroit police subsequently changed their policies based on Woodruff's arrest and another similar case.
Governance controls
Detroit police now will not arrest people based solely on facial recognition results and will not make arrests based on photo lineups generated from a facial recognition search. The city previously paid $300,000 to another man wrongly accused of shoplifting based on facial recognition technology.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.