S.T.O.P. Condemns NYPD False Facial Recognition Arrest Of Innocent Black Man

S.T.O.P. condemns the false arrest of Trevis Williams by the NYPD after a wrongful facial recognition match.

View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns NYPD False Facial Recognition Arrest Of Innocent Black Man (New York, NY, 8/27/25) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a privacy and civil rights group, condemns the false arrest of Trevis Williams by the NYPD after a wrongful facial recognition match. Williams was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn at the time another man was photographed flashing a woman in Manhattan’s Union Square. Williams was arrested despite being 8 inches taller and 70 pounds heavier than the suspect, spending multiple nights in jail. The civil rights group strongly condemned the false arrest and renewed its call for a ban on facial recognition in New York City and State.   SEE: The New York Times -  How the N.Y.P.D.’s Facial Recognition Tool Landed the Wrong Man in Jail https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/nyregion/nypd-facial-recognition-dismissed-case.html “Facial recognition doesn’t just threaten New Yorkers’ civil rights, it undermines their safety,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “While we know about this one case today, we have no idea how many of the thousands of other New Yorkers arrested with this technology were wrongly accused. If the NYPD is willing to use a facial recognition result this flawed, how can they ever be trusted to police their own algorithm. Facial recognition isn’t just a threat when it makes mistakes, it’s a danger when it’s accurate, threatening the rights of abortion seekers, protesters, and immigrants. Given the NYPD’s complicity with ICE, fixing facial recognition will only make life worse for New Yorkers.”   S.T.O.P. is a lead advocate in the “Ban The Scan” legislative campaign to end facial recognition by police and government agencies, landlords, public accommodations, and schools in New York City and State. In 2021, the civil rights group released Scan City: A Decade of NYPD Facial Recognition Abuse, a research report detailing the extent of NYPD’s facial recognition use and the serious consequences it poses for the civil, constitutional, and privacy rights of New Yorkers.   SEE: Ban The Scan https://www.banthescan.org/ Research Report - Scan City: A Decade of NYPD Facial Recognition Abuse https://www.stopspying.org/scan-city The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   -- END -- Copyright © 2025 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.