The Los Angeles Police Department has used facial-recognition software nearly 30,000 times since 2009 even while denying at times that it used the controversial technology at all, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
The data around the use of force is complicated because new reporting policies were instituted in 2013, which county officials have long said created a spike in reporting that wasn’t reflective of a jump in actual force incidents. On top of that, mismatched systems for reporting different kinds of force and violence have created inconsistencies and unreliability in the numbers over time.
Two groups that are frequently critical of the Los Angeles Police Department — the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California — frequently have members speak during the public comment section of commission meetings and offer their opinions, but were formally granted time Tuesday to outline their opposition to many of the department’s programs that use data to impact policing efforts.
Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl co-authored the motion, saying they were determined to counter misinformation that disenfranchises those would-be voters.