Amazon's real-time facial recognition software not everywhere in Orlando, police chief says

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Police Department said Thursday that Amazon misspoke about their department's use of new facial-recognition technology.

The agency is testing the company's new technology as part of a pilot program.

OPD said it wants to correct something Amazon officials said in a YouTube video, which might have misled the public into believing that the agency is using facial-recognition technology with all of the city's surveillance cameras.

Orlando police Chief John Mina told Channel 9 on Thursday that he stands by his agency's decision to test Amazon's new facial-recognition technology.

"We're talking about saving lives here, so I'm interested in seeing this through," Mina said.

"(The) city of Orlando is a launch partner of ours. It's a smart city. They have cameras all over the city," the video said.

Although the city has more than 100 cameras around town, Mina said only eight are currently testing the new technology.

Mina said three of the cameras are downtown and five are in police headquarters. He said they're also tracking seven police officers who volunteered to participate in the pilot program to see if the technology can spot them in a crowd and track them in real-time.

Mina said he hopes the technology can someday be used to prevent tragedies, such as the January 2017 fatal shooting of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.

"(Markeith Lloyd) roamed about the city freely," Mina said. "Imagine if the technology was in place and alerted us as he went into the Walmart."

Amazon issued a correction on its YouTube page, admitting it misspoke about OPD's use of the technology.

"It's not correct that (the department has) installed cameras all over the city," the company said.

Mina said OPD is a long way out from deciding if the technology will be used throughout the city. He said Amazon is still working out some kinks, and full implementation would have to be approved by city officials.

Cox Media Group