Detroit Police Wrongly Arrested Woman After Facial Recognition Tech Misidentified Her as Shooting Culprit

This isn't the first time Detroit cops have arrested the wrong person after using facial recognition software.

Last year, Detroit police wrongly arrested LaDonna Crutchfield after facial recognition software incorrectly identified her as the culprit of a shooting, according to a lawsuit filed on February 21. While police did not even have a warrant for Crutchfield's arrest, they handcuffed, detained, and jailed her anyway. The officers had conducted no investigation, relying fully on a facial recognition database. Police released Crutchfield only when it became obvious that they had arrested the wrong person. Crutchfield's suit argues that her wrongful arrest was a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights.

According to the suit, Crutchfield was at home with her children, resting between work shifts, when six police officers knocked on her door. One of the officers, Anthony Williams, allegedly demanded that she step out of the house, after which he told her "that she was going to jail today, and he didn't want to arrest her in front of her children." According to the suit, the officers would not tell Crutchfield why she was being arrested.

"So basically, you had to go to court," the suit says one officer told Crutchfield. "They summoned you to court and you didn't show up. I don't know if it got lost in the mail or whatever, but it says that you have a warrant for your arrest. All this means is that you have to come to court." However, the suit says this isn't true—the officers didn't have a warrant for Crutchfield's arrest.

"No investigation was conducted to determine if Ms. Crutchfield was the suspect, and a facial recognition database was used to identify her," the suit reads. "The detective in charge conducted no investigation."

Even so, Crutchfield was handcuffed and placed in a police car, where she learned that she had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Crutchfield was booked at a local jail, where it soon became clear that police had mistakenly arrested her. According to the suit, Crutchfield was shown several blurry photos of the actual suspect. When Crutchfield denied that the pictures were of her, one of the officers allegedly told her, "You got to admit it—that looks like you," to which Crutchfield replied "Why? Because I am fat and black like her?" As officers told her more details about the shooting, Crutchfield told them that she was at work at the time of the crime. Soon after, officers concluded that she was not the culprit and decided to release her.

While Crutchfield was released around six hours after being arrested, the experience was still harrowing. The officers "knew or should have known that their conduct would cause severe emotional distress to [Crutchfield], especially in light of the public nature of the arrest," the suit reads.

But Crutchfield isn't alone. In 2023, faulty facial recognition tech led Detroit police to arrest Porcha Woodruff—who was eight months pregnant—on robbery and carjacking charges. In 2020, Detroit police arrested Robert William after facial recognition software wrongly identified him as the culprit of a shoplifting spree. Police held Williams for over 30 hours, even as it became obvious that he had not committed any crimes.