New Orleans Police Used Secret Real-Time Facial Recognition Cameras
The New Orleans Police Department secretly deployed a real-time facial recognition system through Project NOLA since 2023 to track residents without public oversight or city council approval. Civil liberties groups raised alarms about misidentification risks and potential targeting of marginalized communities, leading police to pause the system after a Washington Post investigation.
What happened
Since 2023, the New Orleans Police Department has secretly used real-time facial recognition technology through the "Project NOLA" private camera network, a nonprofit operating out of the University of New Orleans, to track and arrest residents.
The system operates over 200 facial recognition-enabled surveillance cameras that scan every face passing by and send real-time alerts directly to officers' phones when they detect a purported match to someone on a secretive, privately maintained watchlist.
According to a Washington Post investigation published in May 2025, this was the first known time an American police department had relied on live facial recognition technology cameras at scale, without public oversight or City Council approval.
Reported impact
Civil liberties organizations including the ACLU and ACLU of Louisiana raised concerns about the lack of public oversight and the risks of misidentifications and targeting of marginalized communities, including immigrants and activists.
The system's real-time surveillance capability was described as a "radical and dangerous escalation" compared to static facial recognition searches, with the potential to wrongfully arrest residents based on faulty matches.
Index analysis
The technology raises serious concerns regarding misidentification risks, as exemplified by Randal Reid, who was wrongfully arrested in Louisiana based on faulty facial recognition technology despite never having set foot in the state.
The real-time nature of Project NOLA's surveillance system was described as supercharging the risks of such misidentifications compared to traditional facial recognition searches from still images.
Governance controls
The use of the technology occurred without City Council approval and in violation of local law, according to the ACLU.
Following the Washington Post investigation and civil liberties pushback, New Orleans police paused their use of the facial recognition camera network.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.