We are asking for your support for an ordinance banning the use of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) proposed by the Davis Police Accountability Commission (PAC) that has been recommended to the Davis City Council. A full ban of FRT in the Davis Police Department is necessary to protect the integrity of our policing and bring our community’s values into legislation. The data proves FRT is ill-equipped to identify women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Misidentification due to FRT has led to false positives resulting in tragic wrongful detentions of people who committed no crime, while the perpetrator remained at-large.
Across four meetings, the PAC discussed the data around FRT’s usage in other jurisdictions and what regulatory measures needed to be implemented to safeguard the civil rights & civil liberties of Davisites. We received a presentation from the Executive Director of Secure Justice, Brian Hofer, who also helped Davis draft its pioneering Surveillance Technology Ordinance. We were also sent a joint letter from a coalition of civil rights organizations urging us to advance this proposal. The PAC voted 4-2 to recommend a draft ordinance to the City Council banning the use of FRT citywide.
If you support protecting the integrity of Davis policing, protecting our civil liberties, & bring our community’s values into legislation, we urge you to reach out to your council members as they engage in their own consideration of this draft ordinance.
Sincerely,
Chair Dillan Horton, Vice Chair Elizabeth Griswold, Commissioner Robert Canning, & Commissioner Cecilia Escamilla-Greenwald
