Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission stands against facial recognition technology

The Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission approved a resolution opposing the implementation of facial recognition technology by the Milwaukee Police Department.
 
The vote occurred at the commission's monthly meeting on Wednesday. Commissioner Rae Johnson authored the resolution. The vote in favor of adoption was unanimous.
 
The resolution calls on commission chair Tony Snell to draft and send a formal letter to Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.
 
The letter is to highlight the commission’s findings following its June hearing, at which MPD representatives discussed their prior secret use of the technology and members of the public spoke for more than an hour. The commission also consulted with the Legislative Reference Bureau on the impact and reliability of facial recognition technology (FRT) in policing.
 
The letter will go to members of the Milwaukee Common Council and the mayor as well.
 
The resolution states that the material acquired by the commission “affirms that FRT carries the potential for disproportionate impacts and inaccuracies, especially when applied to individuals in protected classes,” and in light of the “little publicly available information about the positive outcomes of FRT in peer cities.”
 
“We are deeply grateful to the members of the ERC for doing the research, listening to the outpouring of opposition to FRT from Milwaukee residents,” ACLU of Wisconsin Advocacy Director Amanda Merkwae told WJI after the commission’s hearing.
 
Merkwae said the resolution serves to recognize that “the profound risks of discrimination or civil rights violations posed by FRT are unacceptably high, even if a policy was in place.”
 
Emilio De Torre, executive director of the Milwaukee Turners, said the resolution was “a significant official declaration of what the people of Milwaukee have been saying all along.” “There are no acceptable guardrails that can be installed that would protect our identities and privacy in satisfactory way,” he said.

“Milwaukee does NOT need to open itself up to more civil rights abuses, anti-immigrant tactics and costly lawsuits,” he said regarding the technology.
 
The ERC is not the only city board expressing concern over MPD’s unchecked and policy-less use of FRT. Eleven members of the Common Council sent Norman a letter in May sharing their anxiety about the practice. The letter urged Norman “to prioritize community trust and transparency by rejecting facial recognition technology” and by investing instead “in proven, non-invasive methods to ensure safety.”
 
Alders Andrea Pratt (District 1), Robert Bauman (District 4), Scott Spiker (District 13), and Peter Burgelis (District 11) did not join in the letter.
 
Common Council members retain the power to overturn or alter any standard operating procedure by a two-thirds majority vote. But without an SOP, the council has no policy to oppose.
 
While the ERC’s mandate in the Milwaukee Code of Ordinances limits its power to promote and protect the civil rights of Milwaukee residents, workers, and visitors, the commissioners unanimously desired to take a stand now.
 
The resolution noted the ERC’s obligation “to advocate against practices that undermine the legal protections afforded under (the ordinance code) and to promote a just, inclusive, and equitable community, including our public safety infrastructure.”
 
WJI Policy Analyst Alexandria Staubach is one of the ERC commissioners.