93% facial "match": in the USA police detained a man due to an AI system error, and now he has gone to court
A man from Florida, Robert Dillon, filed a lawsuit against several law enforcement agencies, claiming he was unlawfully detained due to a false result from an AI-based facial recognition system.
"I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy," Dillon said in an interview with ABC News.
According to police body camera footage obtained by Gulf Coast News, the arrest took place in 2024 near Dillon's home in the San Carlos Park area.
Dillon himself states that during the arrest he tried to explain to the police that a mistake had occurred. "I was basically telling them this is madness. I have no idea who did it, but it wasn't me," he recalled.
The police were searching for a suspect in a case involving an alleged attempt to lure a child to a restaurant in the Jacksonville Beach area, which is located more than 300 miles from Dillon's residence.
"Being accused of such a terrible crime meant I probably wouldn't come home," he noted.
The lawsuit states that during the investigation, law enforcement uploaded a low-quality image of the suspect into the AI-based facial recognition system. Based on the analysis, the system allegedly identified a 93% match between the suspect and Dillon.
Dillon claims he was never in the area where the incident occurred and therefore could not have been involved in the case.
"I argued with the officer for 20 minutes, and he insisted: 'I know I'm looking at your photo'," he said.
After the arrest, the case was closed by the county prosecutor within a few weeks. At the same time, according to Dillon, the complete removal of records about the arrest took almost a year and happened with the involvement of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Currently, Dillon and the ACLU have filed a lawsuit against several law enforcement agencies, including the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which oversees the use of facial recognition technology in Florida.
The lawsuit claims that despite the known problem of false identifications, the police did not implement sufficient safeguards to prevent such cases.
The document also states that Dillon's arrest was the result of inadequate training and oversight by the police regarding the use of facial recognition technology within constitutional requirements.
Jacksonville Beach and Jacksonville County police departments declined to comment on the case when approached by ABC News journalists.
Meanwhile, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office stated that claims about lack of training are false. They emphasized that facial recognition technology is used only as an investigative tool, not as definitive proof of identity.
The agency also noted that system results are not a final "match" and always require additional verification by officers before making an arrest decision.
The statement stresses that the responsibility for determining probable cause lies with the individual law enforcement officer, not the system or the agency using it.
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