Facial Recognition Misidentifies Pregnant Woman Leading to False Arrest in Detroit

On February 16, 2023, Detroit police arrested Porcha Woodruff, a 32-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant, at her home while she was preparing her children for school. Six officers presented her with an arrest warrant for robbery and carjacking. The arrest was based on a facial recognition match from surveillance video at a BP gas station where a robbery victim's phone was returned on January 29. Detective LaShauntia Oliver had run facial recognition technology on the video footage, which identified Woodruff as a suspect. The detective then used an eight-year-old photo of Woodruff from a 2015 arrest in a photo lineup shown to the victim, who identified her as the woman involved in the crime. Oliver's report made no mention of the suspect being pregnant, despite Woodruff's visible pregnancy. Woodruff was charged with robbery and carjacking and held at Detroit Detention Center until 7 p.m. on a $100,000 bond. She was taken to a medical center where she was diagnosed with dehydration and stress-related contractions. On March 6, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office dropped all charges due to insufficient evidence. This incident represents the third known false arrest by Detroit police using facial recognition technology and the sixth such case nationally, with all six victims being Black individuals.