From the moment the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) announced its intention to trade 2.5 million mugshots for “free” access to Biometrica’s Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) in April 2025, community members have opposed local law enforcement’s use of this surveillance technology. Yet, the MPD won’t listen — even as immigration enforcement accesses local law enforcement surveillance data nationwide.
Voice your opposition Thursday, 2/5 at City Hall at 6:00 p.m.
| We can all feel it – we are at a pivotal moment in history. Every week, expansions in surveillance technologies spawn more ways to track us – our locations, our data, our faces. The federal government accesses data from other agencies, including local law enforcement, and third-party companies at an unprecedented rate – and uses it to terrorize immigrants and marginalized communities, suppress free speech, punish protestors, and encroach on our civil rights. This isn’t reflective of the country we want, and this won’t make the city of Milwaukee safer. We don’t have to allow our rights to be taken by a federal government that seems determined to make us live in a dystopian surveillance state. Nationwide, other cities have banned Facial Recognition Technology, put hoods on their Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras, adopted the ACLU’s Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) framework, and told their local police to protect the US Constitution and stand up to ICE. The Common Council has expressed their opposition to FRT. The Equal Rights Commission has expressed their opposition to FRT. The PEOPLE MUST show up strong in opposition to FRT. On Thursday, February 5, tell the Fire & Police Commission that FRT is simply too dangerous for law enforcement to adopt at this moment in history. |
| CALL TO ACTION: SHOW UP IN PERSON this Thursday, 6:00 p.m., 2/5 at Milwaukee City Hall (200 E Wells St) Room 301-B. To give public comment in person, you will sign up on a slip of paper available at the meeting. Public comment is limited to 5 minutes per person. To give public comment virtually, email brhughe@milwaukee.gov at least 24-hours in advance. See this document for more details about Thursday’s FPC meeting. CONTACT YOUR ALDERPERSON. Email your Alderperson and tell them that local law enforcement use of Facial Recognition Technology is too dangerous. View sample call and email scripts here. |
| THE COMMUNITY SAYS NO TO FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY Earlier this year, 804 community members signed a petition opposing the Milwaukee Police Department’s (MPD) use of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT). The City of Milwaukee’s Equal Rights Commission unanimously passed a resolution formally opposing MPD’s use of Facial Recognition Technology, citing civil rights concerns – even if there are policy guardrails. 11 of 15 members of the Common Council signed a letter to Chief Norman opposing his adoption of Facial Recognition Technology. |
| LEARN MORE Click here to read more about how we got here and what’s wrong with Facial Recognition Technology. Click here and here to learn more about how Facial Recognition Technology works. Click here to learn how Immigration Enforcement (ICE and CBP) deploys invasive AI-powered surveillance technologies to track migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. |
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