Facial Recognition in Spotlight in New Jersey False-Arrest Case

A New Jersey man is suing local authorities who he says wrongly arrested him based on a false facial-recognition match, in a case that risks further inflaming debate over the utility and accuracy of the fast-emerging technology. The man, 33-year-old Nijeer Parks, spent more than a week in jail after police detained him in February 2019 on charges of shoplifting, assault and drug possession related to a Jan. 26 incident that year at a Hampton Inn hotel in Woodbridge, N.J., according to a complaint filed in New Jersey Superior Court. The criminal case was dismissed in November 2019, according to a court official in Middlesex County, where Woodbridge is located. Mr. Parks is now seeking unspecified damages, according to the complaint, over allegations including false arrest, civil-rights violations and emotional distress. The New Jersey state police, Woodbridge police and prosecutors in Middlesex County didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.