Dallas Police prepare to implement AI facial recognition tool

Our Take

WFAA's report on Dallas PD's facial recognition trial follows a script we've seen play out in dozens of cities: roll out the tool quietly, promise a progress report down the road, and let the six-month "test" quietly harden into permanent policy once nobody's watching anymore. Facial recognition paired with the kind of camera networks Flock and its peers have blanketed across Texas isn't just a new gadget — it's the missing piece that turns a car-tracking dragnet into a face-tracking one, capable of flagging not just your plate but you, wherever a camera catches your face.

Credit to WFAA for getting this on the record early, because six months is exactly the window advocates need to push back before the technology becomes a permanent line item nobody questions. These trials rarely die from a lack of results; they die from a lack of scrutiny, and if Dallas's city council doesn't hear from residents now, they'll hear only from the department that already wants to keep the tool. Facial recognition has a well-documented track record of misidentifying people, especially people of color, and turning police error into arrests and legal ordeals for the wrongly flagged.

If you're in Dallas or anywhere in Texas, now's the time to find out what's already watching you on our camera map and push your local officials before six months turns into forever — check take-action for how to make your voice heard.