Facial recognition software results in wrongful arrest of pregnant Detroit mother

A pregnant Detroit mother was wrongfully arrested after facial recognition technology identified her as a suspect in a case of robbery and carjacking.

Porcha Woodruff, 32, has since filed a lawsuit against the city and the detective whose use of the software and subsequent actions led to her spending a day in jail.

According to NBC News, Woodruff was preparing her two children for school on the morning of February 16 when she opened the door to find six police officers waiting to arrest her in connection with the robbery and carjacking that had taken place less than a month earlier.

Given the fact that she was weeks away from giving birth, Woodruff originally thought the police were joking, but when it became clear that they were not, she cooperated and was taken away.

The victim of the January 29 robbery and carjacking alleged that the acts had been perpetrated by a man, with the assistance of a woman he has slept with earlier.

Two days after the incident took place, the woman returned the victim's phone to a gas station they had visited together. Surveillance footage of the interaction was run through facial recognition software by Detective LaShauntia Oliver, and Woodruff came up as a match. The system relied on a mugshot from 2015, and the warrant allegedly failed to detail that the accomplice was pregnant.

Oliver showed the victim a lineup of photos, and he picked Woodruff. When the male suspect was arrested, he was not shown a photo of his alleged accomplice.

In her lawsuit, Woodruff explained that "Detective Oliver stated in detail in her report what she observed in the video footage, and there was no mention of the female suspect being pregnant." Woodruff and her fiancé pressed the police department to see if the warrant mentoned anything about a pregnant woman, but they allegedly refused to do so. 

Despite being pregnant, Woodruff was forced to sit on a concrete bench at the Detroit Detention Center for the day, during which time she said she experienced contractions, and pain. Upon being released on $100,000 personal bond in the evening, she was taken to the hospital by her fiancé and treated for dehydation and stress.

The case was later dropped due to "insufficient evidence," however the prosecutor's office maintained that Woodruff's arrest was justified.

In a statement, Detroit Police Chief James E. White said Woodruff's allegations against the department were "very concerning." 

As the Daily Mail reports, facial recognition software has been linked to numerous wrongful arrests across the United States.