An innocent woman who was eight months pregnant was arrested in the US because of a facial recognition error

Police in Detroit, Michigan, USA, have arrested an innocent pregnant woman on suspicion of armed robbery and carjacking, based only on facial recognition matches.

Here's What We Know

In the winter of 2023, a 25-year-old man reported his car stolen. According to him, he was spending the evening with a female stranger and gave her a lift to a BP petrol station. At the drop-off point, an unknown man approached the vehicle and, threatening the man with a gun, took his car, wallet and phone.

The robber was soon arrested, but police were unable to locate the woman. To find her, law enforcement used a surveillance camera installed at the gas station and ran the suspect's image through DataWorks Plus facial recognition software.

Detectives then showed the victim six photos of women, among which he identified the suspect.

Law enforcement officers soon arrested 32-year-old suburban Detroit resident Porcha Woodruff, who appeared to be eight months pregnant. She was questioned for 11 hours before being released on $100,000 bail.

A month after the incident, police dropped the charges against Woodruff. She now intends to sue Detroit city officials over the wrongful arrest.

Woodruff became the sixth person to report a false accusation of a crime as a result of police using facial recognition technology. All six people were black. Woodruff became the first woman to report the incident.

Source: The New York Times