Milwaukee community leaders are voicing strong objections to a proposal from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to adopt facial recognition technology for investigative use. Sheriff officials say the tool would help guide detectives but would not be used to charge anyone with a crime.
“It is a tool that’s utilized to point an investigator, potentially, in the right direction,” Chief Deputy Brian Barkow told county supervisors during a Tuesday committee meeting. He said the software would compare images only against booking photos and sex offender registry records — not social media or open-web sources.
But privacy advocates and neighborhood organizers say that reassurance isn’t enough. They argue the technology poses a risk for inaccurate matches, biased outcomes, and potential misuse, especially amid heightened national political tensions.
“We cannot ignore the political climate that we are in and acknowledging that more surveillance and more policing in our communities is not only harmful, it is dangerous and it is irresponsible,” said Angela Lang, executive director of Black Leaders Organizing Communities to WPR.
Opposition extended to members of county government. Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez said he was “vehemently opposed” to bringing the technology into local law enforcement. “This would absolutely destroy and shatter public trust, completely, as it is,” he said.
After the meeting, Barkow confirmed the department is exploring a contract with Biometrica, a facial recognition company that has drawn criticism from local civil rights groups. Emilio De Torre, executive director of the Milwaukee Turners, previously objected to Milwaukee police considering an agreement with the same company.
“This is a ridiculously dangerous time to allow any additional surveillance and tracking and face mapping software,” he said, also criticizing the county’s use of Flock license plate reader cameras. “They’re insidious, they violate our privacy rights and they become something very tempting for misuse.”
Barkow stressed the technology would be restricted to investigative units and said the sheriff’s office shares information with federal immigration authorities only when required by law. A Biometrica representative told supervisors the company does not partner with ICE. (RELATED: Did Wisconsin Gov Hopeful Really Call Letting Prisoners Out “Sexy”?)
The Milwaukee Police Department, which recently weighed a similar agreement, confirmed it does not currently have a contract with Biometrica. (RELATED: Illegal Immigrant Cop Previously Arrested By ICE Returns To Duty)