In February 2023, Porcha Woodruff—a 32-year-old Black woman who was 8 months pregnant—was arrested at her Detroit home for robbery and carjacking. The evidence? A faulty facial recognition match. The Arrest Six police officers arrived before 8 a.m. Her two children (ages 12 and 6) watched She was detained for 11 hours She experienced contractions in custody Required hospitalization after release The Problem: The surveillance footage showed no indication the carjacker was pregnant. The algorithm simply got it wrong. Watch this investigation into how facial recognition bias leads to wrongful arrests: The Pattern Woodruff was the first woman wrongfully arrested by facial recognition. She was not the first person. Known Wrongful Arrests (2020-2024): Robert Williams (Detroit, 2020) - Watch theft, detained 30 hours Michael Oliver (Detroit, 2019) - Also wrongfully arrested At least 7 documented cases nationwide Nearly all victims were Black The Racial Bias Facial recognition systems misidentify Black people at significantly higher rates than white people. Studies show: 5-10x higher error rates for darker-skinned individuals Female faces misidentified more than male Algorithm training data is predominantly white faces The Broken Process Police departments routinely: Ignore warnings that FRT results aren't "positive identification" Move directly from algorithm match to arrest warrant Fail to conduct independent corroborating investigation Omit FRT use from warrant applications The Detroit Settlement (2026) After Robert Williams' lawsuit, Detroit implemented the nation's strictest FRT policies: Cannot go directly from FRT match to witness identification Cannot obtain arrest warrants based solely on FRT results Must conduct independent corroborating investigation Making Change Support organizations like ACLU and EFF Advocate for biometric privacy legislation Know your rights if approached by police Document any use of facial recognition in your encounters The Question: If an algorithm is wrong 1% of the time, and it scans 100 million faces, how many innocent people go to jail?