Florida Man Sues Over Wrongful Arrest Based on Faulty Facial Recognition Match
7 verified6 unconfirmed
A Florida man has filed a lawsuit alleging he was wrongfully arrested after police relied on a facial recognition system that produced an inaccurate match. The plaintiff, Robert Dillon, a 52-year-old commercial crabber from Fort Myers, was arrested in August 2024 on charges of attempting to lure a child in Jacksonville Beach. The arrest stemmed from a "93 percent match" generated by the Face Analysis Comparison and Examination System (FACES), a facial recognition database operated by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The incident occurred at a McDonald's in Jacksonville Beach in November 2023, but Dillon lives more than 300 miles away and claims he never visited the city. The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, contends that police ignored exculpatory evidence, including a license plate reader search that showed no travel to the area. Charges were dropped weeks after Dillon pleaded not guilty. The suit seeks damages and policy changes to how facial recognition technology is used by law enforcement.
What’s verified
Robert Dillon, 52, was arrested in August 2024 after FACES returned a 93 percent match linking him to a suspect filmed by a McDonald's surveillance camera.
The alleged incident occurred at a Jacksonville Beach McDonald's in November 2023, involving an attempt to lure a child under 12.
Dillon lives in Fort Myers, more than 300 miles from Jacksonville Beach, and says he never visited the city.
A search of license plate readers for vehicles registered to Dillon found no evidence he was in the area, according to the lawsuit.
The FACES system, operated by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office since 2001, holds tens of millions of Florida mug shots and driver's license photos.
The lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the Middle District of Florida and names multiple law enforcement agencies and officers as defendants.
All charges against Dillon were dropped after his attorney entered a not-guilty plea.
Not yet confirmed
The specific names of the officers and sergeant sued appear in only one report; the other report does not name them.
One report states that a McDonald's manager told investigators the suspect was a "regular customer" whom she had seen multiple times, but this detail is not in the other report.
One report notes that the investigating officer was promoted by the end of the year, a fact not mentioned in the other report.
One report describes that Dillon was held overnight in a cold cell, transported in a caged van, and had to pledge his truck title to make bond; these details are not confirmed in the other report.
One report mentions that Dillon's mug shot remained online for nearly a year and was removed only after a TV reporter intervened.
Questions remain about how often such wrongful arrests occur and whether law enforcement agencies have updated their policies since this case.
Key figures
Robert Dillon: Plaintiff, commercial crabber from Fort Myers, Florida.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Filed the lawsuit on Dillon's behalf.
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office: Operator of the FACES system.
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office: Conducted the facial recognition search.
Jacksonville Beach Police Department: Investigated the original incident.
Several individual law enforcement officers and officials are named as defendants in the suit.
Sources: Wired, Ars Technica
