Facial recognition misidentifies woman, leads to six-month wrongful incarceration
Facial recognition technology misidentified Oklahoma woman Kimberlee Williams as a suspect in a Maryland bank fraud case. Williams was arrested, charged across three counties, and jailed for six months before charges were dismissed; police did not disclose the facial recognition match when seeking charges, and the ACLU sent complaint letters requesting policy changes.
What happened
A bank investigator reported to Montgomery County police that facial recognition technology had identified Kimberlee Williams as a suspect in bank fraud cases involving fraudulent withdrawals in Maryland. Williams was arrested in July 2021 and charged in three Maryland counties—Montgomery, Prince George's, and Anne Arundel—despite claiming she lived in Oklahoma and had never visited Maryland.
Montgomery County police did not disclose that facial recognition technology had been used to identify Williams when they sought charges against her, according to police records. Williams was jailed for six months before the charges were dismissed.
Reported impact
Williams spent six months in jail while wrongfully charged across three Maryland counties for crimes she did not commit. She offered to take a polygraph test and said family members could provide an alibi, but investigators rejected her denials.
Index analysis
The facial recognition system matched Williams based on surveillance photos showing someone with the same build, age, and face shape as Williams, who had prior convictions for writing bad checks in Oklahoma. Criminal justice experts said the use of facial recognition should have been disclosed in the police department's incident report and application for charges.
Governance controls
The American Civil Liberties Union alleged that Montgomery police—which had been informed about the role of facial recognition—maliciously prosecuted Williams by not disclosing the use of the technology in identifying her. The ACLU sent complaint letters to all three police departments seeking an apology and policy changes.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.