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NYPD's facial recognition technology led to the wrongful arrest of Trevis Williams, who spent days in jail for a crime he didn't commit. The case highlights the technology's flaws and potential for misidentification.
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"similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7f5-8e55-4e80-90cd-33162c59e42f", "text": "In February, a woman told the police that a delivery man had exposed himself to her in a Manhattan building.", "simplified_text": "A woman reported a flasher in a Manhattan building in February", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Crime", "Police" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7f6-8ebb-4dad-89b4-f8e43f18cbd8", "text": "He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall.", "simplified_text": "The flasher was about 5 feet 6 inches tall", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7f7-8e25-4516-af0b-cab4dacac6e4", "text": "Two months later, evidence shows, the police arrested the wrong man.", "simplified_text": "Police arrested the wrong man two months later", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Police", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7f8-880d-4fb2-b301-2372188d0782", "text": "He was 6-foot-2.", "simplified_text": "The wrong man was 6-foot-2", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7f9-8898-4020-9a48-d7ebf8c731e9", "text": "The man, Trevis Williams, was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn on the day of the crime, and location data from his phone put him about 12 miles away at the time.", "simplified_text": "Trevis Williams was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn on the day of the crime location data put him 12 miles away", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Person", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7fa-789d-4efa-9cdf-e1b87655f2cb", "text": "But a facial recognition program plucked his image from an array of mug shots and the woman identified him as the flasher.", "simplified_text": "Facial recognition identified Trevis Williams from mugshots the woman identified him as the flasher", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Technology", "Crime", "Police" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7fb-9bf5-430b-a99f-b0227cef879a", "text": "Mr. Williams was not only taller, he also weighed 230 pounds.", "simplified_text": "Mr Williams was taller and weighed 230 pounds", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Person", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7fc-9135-4f7e-8471-c2977a05b51a", "text": "The victim said the delivery man appeared to weigh about 160 pounds.", "simplified_text": "The victim said the flasher weighed about 160 pounds", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7fd-84de-4aef-adda-bf9c239da0d0", "text": "But Mr. Williams still spent more than two days in jail in April.", "simplified_text": "Mr Williams spent more than two days in jail in April", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Person", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7fe-6f12-4d0e-9dce-e2e2b0a7775e", "text": "But the case against Mr. Williams, which was dismissed in July, illustrates the perils of a powerful investigative tool that can lead detectives far astray.", "simplified_text": "The case against Mr Williams was dismissed in July", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Legal", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a7ff-66a0-4e33-ad33-82918dc56b87", "text": "Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have found in repeated testing that facial recognition technology identifies the correct person a vast majority of the time.", "simplified_text": "NIST researchers found facial recognition identifies the correct person a vast majority of the time", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Technology", "Science" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a800-5931-4952-9607-bbe6eb2cbfeb", "text": "Nationwide, at least 10 people have been wrongly arrested after being identified with facial recognition technology, according to news reports.", "simplified_text": "At least 10 people have been wrongly arrested after facial recognition identification nationwide", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Legal", "Technology", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a801-5224-4fd1-aee7-28a68a14fbe4", "text": "The New York Police Department uses the technology thousands of times a year, but does not tally its successes and failures.", "simplified_text": "NYPD uses facial recognition thousands of times a year but does not tally successes and failures", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Police", "Technology" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a802-3d1e-4043-a6f1-e02b2d914353", "text": "The Police Department is supposed to limit those searches to people who have been arrested in New York or New Jersey, according to the agency\u2019s inspector general.", "simplified_text": "The Police Department should limit facial recognition searches to people arrested in New York or New Jersey", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Police", "Technology" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a803-329b-4447-a7aa-1ae7b80d89a0", "text": "Ultimately, a human selects the best candidate.", "simplified_text": "A human selects the best facial recognition candidate", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Technology" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a804-31de-410f-ac84-91b63d181b0c", "text": "The examiner chose Mr. Williams and generated a report that warned that he was only a \u201cpossible match\u201d and that alone was \u201cnot probable cause to arrest.\u201d", "simplified_text": "The examiner chose Mr Williams the report warned he was only a possible match not probable cause to arrest", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Police", "Legal" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a805-1da3-4a95-9dff-13da0f55038d", "text": "She picked Mr. Williams\u2019s photo, image No. 2, and signed her name underneath, according to police documents.", "simplified_text": "The victim picked Mr Williams's photo and signed her name", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Crime", "Police" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a806-18a3-4e71-a7dc-d681fb923c69", "text": "On April 21, the police caught Mr. Williams entering the subway through an exit gate in Brooklyn, and learned he was wanted for questioning in the Feb. 10 episode.", "simplified_text": "Police caught Mr Williams entering a subway in Brooklyn April 21 he was wanted for questioning", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Police", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a807-1527-44cb-b9cb-a77e6af214e5", "text": "He explained he had worked in an Amazon warehouse during the Covid-19 pandemic and in Atlanta, but that at the time of the crime, he had been working his Connecticut job with autistic adults.", "simplified_text": "Mr Williams worked in an Amazon warehouse during Covid-19 and in Atlanta at the time of the crime he worked in Connecticut", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Person", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a808-01b6-4710-9716-0c79dec7c664", "text": "The police charged him the following day.", "simplified_text": "Police charged Mr Williams the following day", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Police", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a809-0795-4e61-ba00-99f077373d93", "text": "The New York police have been using facial recognition since 2011, with investigators running thousands of annual searches that have led to matches in cases as serious as rapes and murders.", "simplified_text": "New York police have used facial recognition since 2011 running thousands of annual searches", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Police", "Technology" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a809-f99a-4dfc-ba05-a2e79a1c415d", "text": "In 2022, the organization said, a man was accused of attempted murder and held for more than a month.", "simplified_text": "In 2022 a man was accused of attempted murder and held for more than a month", "claim_maker": "Legal Aid", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Legal", "Crime" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a80a-f446-4106-b25b-c2ac726d3c3f", "text": "In 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that the leading face recognition algorithms were able to produce a correct match for 99.9 percent of searches they performed on a mug shot database of 12 million people.", "simplified_text": "In 2023 NIST found face recognition algorithms produced a correct match for 99.9 percent of searches on a mugshot database", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Technology", "Science" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a80b-ebd4-4c37-9f93-b6e93668be84", "text": "In Indiana and Detroit, the police are prohibited from putting facial matches in a lineup unless additional evidence \u2014 like fingerprints, DNA or cellphone data \u2014 connects a suspect to a crime.", "simplified_text": "Indiana and Detroit police cannot put facial matches in a lineup without additional evidence", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Police", "Technology", "Legal" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a80c-e971-45dd-84c4-462a03461cac", "text": "The victim said that Mr. Williams\u2019s arrest had made her feel calm.", "simplified_text": "The victim said Mr Williams's arrest made her feel calm", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Crime", "Person" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null }, { "uuid": "9fc8a80d-da6b-4c43-9dde-085ad745cac6", "text": "As for the public lewdness case, the police said it had been closed.", "simplified_text": "The police said the public lewdness case had been closed", "claim_maker": "The author", "claim_subject_tags": [ "Crime", "Police" ], "confidence": 1, "context_type": "News Article", "similarity_found": false, "linked_to": null, "similarity_score": null } ], "improved_author": "Maria Cramer and Kashmir Hill", "suggested_reeval_at": "2026-08-26 19:32:46" } }
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How the N.Y.P.D.βs Facial Recognition Tool Landed the Wrong Man in Jail By Maria Cramer and Kashmir Hill Aug. 26, 2025 Trevis Williams is eight inches taller than a man accused of flashing a woman in Union Square in February. The police arrested him anyway. In February, a woman told the police that a delivery man had exposed himself to her in a Manhattan building. He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall. Two months later, evidence shows, the police arrested the wrong man. He was 6-foot-2. The man, Trevis Williams, was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn on the day of the crime, and location data from his phone put him about 12 miles away at the time. But a facial recognition program plucked his image from an array of mug shots and the woman identified him as the flasher. Like Mr. Williams, the culprit was Black, had a thick beard and mustache, and wore his hair in braids. Physically, the two men had little else in common. Mr. Williams was not only taller, he also weighed 230 pounds....
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