Facial recognition used to recapture New Orleans jail escapee
New Orleans police used facial recognition to recapture a jail escapee, prompting civil rights groups to raise concerns. The police department has requested to expand facial recognition use, citing the incident and a Bourbon Street attack, though existing 2022 rules limit such technology.
What happened
After ten prisoners escaped from Orleans Parish Prison, New Orleans Police Department used facial recognition technology to help locate and arrest an escapee. Eight of the ten escapees have been recaptured.
The New Orleans Police Department has requested that city council rewrite a 2022 ordinance limiting use of facial recognition. The request comes after the jail break and a New Year's Day ramming attack on Bourbon Street.
Reported impact
Civil rights groups including the ACLU of Louisiana have raised concerns about facial recognition use. The ACLU claims Project NOLA's system is dangerous.
Index analysis
In April, NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick ordered a pause on automated alerts from Project NOLA to review compliance with city ordinance, reportedly prompted by reports that police were using live facial recognition.
Current policy allows officers, after exhausting other options, to request Louisiana State Police run facial recognition searches over specified violent crimes. Monitors reported 19 NOPD requests for all of 2023.
Governance controls
A 2022 ordinance limits New Orleans Police Department use of facial recognition. Project NOLA's facial recognition cameras are primarily situated in commercial areas and feed into a central monitoring hub at the University of New Orleans.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.