Facial-Recognition Tech Fail: How a Jersey Man Spent 10 Days in Jail After Being Misidentified

Sieeka Khan, Tech Times 30 December 2020, 01:12 am

A man from New Jersey filed a civil suit after he was falsely arrested by police. The authorities put him in jail based solely on facial recognition software that was banned in the state.

Fail facial-recognition

The 33-year-old Nijeer Parks was held in custody for 10 days. He was accused of shoplifting back in 2019 in Woodbridge, it ended with the real thief hitting a police car as he escaped the scene.

Now, the victim's attorney Daniel Sexton has filed a civil suit against the city and the authorities in Woodbridge, alleging that they violated Parks' rights by relaying on dubious facial recognition software.

The lawsuit alleges that the wrongful arrest was motivated by the victim's race and that the victim was detained, arrested and charged because he is African-American.

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Parks had served six years in jail before on two convictions for selling drugs, but he stated that he was committed to setting his life straight after he was released in 2016, according to NJ.com.

Parks was working as a clerk in a Price Rite supermarket and was saving up to marry his fiance when he was arrested by police for a crime spree at a hotel in Woodbridge.

Wrongful arrest

The incident in Woodbridge happened on January 26, 2019 at the Hampton Inn. The police were called after a report of a shoplifter was filed. The said shoplifter stole candy and other snacks from the hotel's gift shop, according to NBC.

The thief darted into the hotel bathroom when a clerk called the authorities, and when they arrived, he handed over a driver's license from Tennessee, identifying him as Jamal Owens, 25-years-old.

Police ran a check on the license and it revealed that it was invalid and fraudulent, when they moved to arrest the man he fled out the back door and lost a sneaker. The man jumped into a black Dodge Challenger, gunned the engine and drove away, crashing into the back of a patrol car during the process of escaping.

The police still had the suspected false driver's license, and the day after the hotel crime spree the investigators in New Jersey and New York told Woodbridge cops that they had a match through facial recognition software.

The software was from Clearview AI. It was banned for use in law enforcement earlier this year by New York Attorney General Gurbir Grewal due to a review of the technology and the policies of its use.

The software identified Parks, who already had pictures in the system because of his previous arrest. Warrants were immediately issued for his arrested on charges including false-government documents, shoplifting and resisting arrest.

Parks get a call from his grandmother that the police were looking for him, he asked his cousin to drive him to the Woodbridge police department to clear up the allegations and point it out as a case of mistaken identity.

Instead, Parks was held in an interview room, grilled by the police, handcuffed him to a bench in a hallway for an hour, led him to a second room and make him stay there. Fearing for his safety, Parks faked an asthma attack and was taken to the ER.

Parks was book into jail and spent 10 days there before making bail. He used his savings to hire a lawyer, turned down the plea deal for six years in prison as he faced up to 20 years in jail at the trial, accordint to The Wall Street Journal.

The judge demanded more evidence from prosecutors beyond the facial recognition match. The prosecutors later dropped their charges against Parks.

Parks has now filed a lawsuit against the state and the police with claims of excessive force, civil rights violations, false imprisonment and cruel punishment.