Latest news with #HeatherHough
NDTV
29-04-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Milwaukee Police's 'Shady' Deal: Trading Millions Of Mugshots For Facial Recognition Tech
The Milwaukee Police Department is mulling a cartoonishly 'shady' deal where it is willing to trade 2.5 million mugshots to a private company in exchange for free access to facial recognition software. According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, police officials announced the potential deal at the city's Fire and Police Commissions meeting last week. Under the proposed deal, the department would receive two free search licenses from Biometrica, a software company already working with other law enforcement agencies in the US -- in exchange for mugshots and jail records spanning decades. "We recognise the very delicate balance between advancement in technology and ensuring we as a department do not violate the rights of all of those in this diverse community," Milwaukee Police Chief of Staff Heather Hough said during an April 17 meeting. "While we would like to acquire the technology to assist in solving cases, being transparent with the community that we serve far outweighs the urgency to acquire," she later said in an email. The proposed agreement has so far made no mention about informing individuals or asking for their consent. Although Wisconsin is an open records state, meaning arrest records, including mughsots are available in the public domain, the legal purview of the deal remains sketchy. Social media reacts Reacting to the proposed deal, the majority of social media users called out the Milwaukee PD for compromising the privacy of people. "One shady organisation acting in self-serving faith with another shady organisation. Poetic," said one user while another added: "Woof. Is this not a plot point in the TV show Class of '09?' A third commented: "These systems are notoriously poor. Bias is significant. Bias is worse with people of colour. Also, surveillance bad." Studies have shown that facial recognition systems exhibit bias, especially against people of colour. Additionally, the facial recognition companies often train their systems on stolen or borrowed datasets. In 2023, it was revealed that Clearview AI, which helped the US police during the January 6 riots, had scraped 30 billion images from platforms such as Facebook without permission from the users.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MPS school resource officers; emails reveal timeline of frustration, confusion
The Brief FOX6 News obtained months of internal emails between the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Public Schools on school resource officers. It would take the force of a Milwaukee County judge in February 2025, to get the ball rolling, threatening a $1,000 daily fine. Police are now in Milwaukee schools – 14 months late. MILWAUKEE - Frustration, confusion and pressing for updates – FOX6 News obtained months of internal emails between Milwaukee Police Department top officials on the delays and drama connected to bringing school resource officers back to Milwaukee Public Schools. To find a full story, trust a paper trail to lead the way. What we know In January, we requested MPD internal emails regarding school resource officers from June 2024 to Jan. 21, 2025, and there is a clear story of questions and confusion. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News Timeline On Aug. 5, 2024, MPD Chief of Staff Heather Hough informed leadership that Milwaukee city attorney Evan Goyke called her with an SRO update. What was said is redacted. Less than two hours later, Police Chief Jeffrey Norman responded: "Sigh, this stuff is not that hard but okay, thank you for the update!" Later that month, on Aug. 26, there was confusion about SRO training. Looking for clarification, Chief Norman writes "it is my understanding MPS is responsible for training, per Act 12? Is that correct?" Act 12 requires MPS to place at least 25 officers in school buildings. An attorney writes "it would make sense that each entity is responsible for their own employees that are not governed by Act 12." At the start of the school year, MPD received a crush of media requests and pressure from Milwaukee Common Council members on where things stand. On Sept. 13, the city said it was in the process of reaching an agreement for the placement of SROs in MPS schools. The document dump shows tons of correspondence on meetings, but little movement is made. Some of the highest priority emails are fully redacted, like on Oct. 11, which included an email chain titled "SRO Costs from October" with the city attorney and command staff. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android There's urgency on Jan. 9. Milwaukee Alderman Scott Spiker said to the mayor's office and police "we need to get a meeting with MPS set up ASAP on this issue." Big picture view It would take the force of a Milwaukee County judge in February 2025, to get the ball rolling faster, threatening a $1,000 daily fine. Police are now in Milwaukee schools – 14 months late. What we don't know This is only part of the story; FOX6 News requested similar information from MPS. MPS has not fulfilled our request for emails and information from their top staff. The Source The information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.
