False positives in facial recognition + New state app helps marijuana buyers stay legal
Happy Monday, California! Thanks for starting your day with the Capitol Alert. Andrew Sheeler here, filling in for Hannah Wiley.
FACIAL RECOGNITION ‘TAKES A PAUSE’
California law enforcement won’t be allowed to use facial recognition technology in their body cameras beginning Jan. 1.
That’s because a new law, sponsored by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, places a three-year moratorium on that technology’s use. Ting originally fought for a permanent ban but received intense pushback from law enforcement groups.
In a press phone conference Thursday, Ting said it is important to “take a pause” in order to find out if there is racial bias in facial recognition software, something a new federal study says is happening.
That study, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, found that black and Asian faces were more likely to generate a false positive than a white face. The American Indian demographic had the highest rate of false positives, according to the report.
Earlier this year, to demonstrate the danger of a false positive, Ting ran the faces of California’s lawmakers through a mugshot database and found that 26 legislators were falsely identified as criminals.
“As we all know, sometimes in life just having an accusation can have a severe impact on someone’s ability to get a job, get housing,” Ting said.
Ting said police body cameras were supposed to help build trust with the communities those police serve in.
“By installing facial recognition, we were very concerned that it would really dampen that trust as well as becoming a tool for 24/7 surveillance,” Ting said.
LEGAL CANNABIS? THERE’S ANOTHER APP FOR THAT
Adult use of marijuana became legal in California almost two years ago. Despite that, California’s cannabis black market is thriving.
According to the group BDS Analytics, black market cannabis is expected to reach $8.7 billion in sales this year, compared to $3.1 billion for legal marijuana.
But the state isn’t giving up. The Bureau of Cannabis Control has launched a new campaign to aid consumers in buying legal weed.
“Consumers who scan to verify a QR code will be able to confirm that a cannabis retailer is licensed,” according to a BCC statement. “As part of this effort, the bureau is encouraging retailers to print out and post their unique QR code in storefront windows and educate consumers about the importance of supporting and purchasing from the legal cannabis market.”
The move was praised by United Cannabis Business Association Executive Director Ruben Honig.
“This QR code campaign is another tool in our consumer education toolbelt that will more clearly differentiate legal, tested products and work to keep Californians safe,” Honig said in prepared remarks.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Our criminal justice system wasn’t built for women. We have to examine why women are incarcerated, what happens to women when they are in prison, and what happens to them when they return to society. We must reform our system.”
- Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, via Twitter. Bass was tweeting about Chrystul Kizer, who is accused of killing her alleged rapist and sex trafficker. Kizer faces the possibility of life in prison.
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