The city government should not be allowed to #regulate the use of facial recognition technology in police investigations. Banning the technology will only make investigations more costly and labor-intensive. Because of an ordinance passed by city council in 2020, the police department has to get approval from the council before using facial recognition technology. How does this red tape benefit anyone?

Scott Schubert, now-retired Pittsburgh Police Chief, acknowledged that the technology was “something that needs to be looked at, and something we all need to sit down and talk about.” He did not believe there was a need for legislation to ban police officers from using it. The technology can help police identify and prosecute criminals, as well as exonerate people who are not involved. How is this supposed to be a bad thing? 

The police department is responsible for keeping our community safe. The only way they can do this is by using all of the tools at their disposal. Facial Recognition Technology is an imperfect solution but it is only designed to help identify suspects. Police still have to do all the same work as always when investigating crimes: interviewing witnesses and suspects, gathering evidence, and making arrests when appropriate. This technology is not capable of proving anyone’s innocence or guilt on its own. 

However, if this can help identify suspects quicker, we need to let police use the technology to aid in their investigations. Computers are able to process information much quicker and more accurately than people, and it stands to reason that they will be more suited to analyzing facial structures and identifying possible matches. This way law enforcement can concentrate their efforts on the individuals who are most likely involved, instead of having to go through stacks of photos on their own.

There is no reason to prohibit facial recognition technology from being used by the police. Limiting police by requiring them to get the city council's permission makes no sense. Since they are not police officers, the people on our council are not able to make an educated determination about when the police should or shouldn’t use this technology. Facial recognition technology is very efficient and could prove highly useful in investigations. For these reasons, the municipal government shouldn’t interfere with the police department’s ability to use the latest technologies to make their investigations more efficient.