City investigating after report says APD officers used facial recognition against policy

The City of Austin said it is investigating after documents obtained by The Washington Post showed at least 13 instances of outside police departments providing results of facial recognition searches to Austin Police Department officers since the city banned the use of facial recognition nearly four years ago.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin said it is investigating after documents obtained by The Washington Post showed at least 13 instances of outside police departments providing results of facial recognition searches to Austin Police Department officers since the city banned the use of facial recognition nearly four years ago.

The Washington Post first reported on the documents in a May 18 article.

“When allegations are made against any department staff, we follow a consistent process.  We've initiated that process to investigate the claims. If the investigation determines that policies were violated, APD will take the necessary steps. We will not be able to comment until after the investigation is complete,” the City of Austin stated.

On June 11, 2020, the Austin Council Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution that, in part, prohibited the use of facial recognition across all City operations. Resolution 20200611-95 passed following 11 consecutive days of Austin demonstrations and protests against police brutality related to the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Mike Ramos in Austin.

"Neither facial recognition technology designed or used to identify members of the public, nor information obtained from such facial recognition technology, shall be used by the City for criminal investigation purposes, law enforcement, or surveillance purposes, nor shall such technology be allowed to be used by private corporations on City property," the resolution states.

If the information is inadvertently obtained by the city, or if APD determines the use of this information or technology is necessary due to imminent threat or danger, the City Manager must approve and the purpose must be promptly given to the Council and public, according to the resolution.

KXAN asked the city if APD asked for approval or notified the city manager about using facial recognition technology or information inadvertently obtained under the resolution's guidelines.

KXAN will update this story once a response is received.

City's response to The Washington Post story

In an email KXAN received from a city council source, the City of Austin told council members it received a media inquiry from The Post alleging the use of facial recognition technology by APD officers which could be a violation of APD policies.

"The City informed the reporter that we were not aware of this complaint and did not have sufficient information to determine if the alleged acts were a violation of policy or not," the email states.

The email states that the city provided The Post's reporter a link to the APD General Orders 1000.5 (e) and explained its standard process for investigating alleged policy violations.

According to The Post, at least one of the 13 searches provided to an APD officer came from the Leander Police Department.

The Post reported LPD declined to comment on the matter.

KXAN has requested records from the City of Leander of all email communications between the City of Austin and Leander containing various keywords associated with "facial recognition."

The City of Leander has confirmed it is currently processing this request, KXAN will update this story as soon as information is provided.

Reporter Grace Reader contributed to this report.