Author(s)

Methanias Colaço Júnior^1,2*, Luan Bruno Barbosa de Souza Costa^2,3, Everton Carlos Santos Recchi³, Ana Carla Bliacheriene¹, Fatima de L. S. Nunes¹, Luciano Vieira de Araújo¹

¹School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (EACH), University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil.
²Postgraduate Program in Computer Science (PROCC), Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), São Cristóvão, Brazil.
³Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (GAECO), Prosecution Office (MPSE), Aracaju, Brazil.

Context: In the criminal investigation environment, there is often a lack of information about a particular suspect, demanding instruments capable of searching for information based on limited evidence. Facial recognition, utilizing archived photos and/or real-time image capture, acts as one such instrument. Objective: This study aims to analyze the facial recognition results of the an open-source and free product, evaluating its effectiveness through acceptable accuracy and sensitivity rates for investigators, with the intention of exploring its potential application in the field of public security. Additionally, an analysis of efficacy by ethnicity was performed, which discussed solutions to avoid racism. Method: A controlled in vitro experiment was conducted, employing a dataset of approximately 20,000 authentic photographs of incarcerated individuals from the prison system of the state of Sergipe, Brazil. Results: The effectiveness results obtained indicate that the open-source and free Face Recognition tool holds potential for identifying individuals in the context of front-view photos of inmates in the prison system and similar Public Security Management applications. Upon completion of the tests and taking into account statistical significance, the software successfully identified incarcerated individuals using their images, achieving an average accuracy rate of over 84.8%, a sensitivity rate of over 89.9%, and an fß-measure of over 82.5%, in line with the established criteria. It is worth mentioning that replications of this experiment may also validate a better average for the accuracy rate, which reached, for many cases, the final level of 90% and even 100% precision. Conclusion: The effectiveness results demonstrate the potential suitability of the facial recognition tool for identifying individuals, particularly within the context of front-view photos of inmates in the prison system and similar Public Security Management applications. However, the study also revealed a higher rate of false positives among Black individuals, emphasizing the importance of addressing potential biases and refining the technology to ensure equitable treatment across all ethnic groups. Finally, this research contributes to ongoing discussions on harnessing the benefits of technology while mitigating potential negative consequences in law enforcement contexts.

Facial Recognition, Transparency, Racism, Public Agencies Security, Criminal Investigation

Júnior, M. , de Souza Costa, L. , Santos Recchi, E. , Bliacheriene, A. , de L. S. Nunes, F. and de Araújo, L. (2023) Evaluating Open-Source Facial Recognition Software in Public Security: Effectiveness and Observations on Ethnicity. Beijing Law Review, 14, 1000-1028. doi: 10.4236/blr.2023.142054.