The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) purchased a PictureLink system from Dynamic Imaging to run face recognition searches of the Minnesota Repository of Arrest Photos (MRAP), primarily to generate mug shot photo lineups for criminal investigations (016860). Police do not need reasonable suspicion to run a search. DPS stated it does not currently use the PictureLink system’s face recognition, however, because it “does not function in a satisfactory manner” (012103). African Americans are likely overrepresented in MRAP database; they are arrested at a rate 354% higher than their share of the state population.
Driver and Vehicles Services (DVS), a division of the DPS, also operates a face recognition system for de-duplicating driver’s license photos and identifying possible fraud (008924). DPS stated that this system cannot be accessed by agencies outside the DVS division (012103).
DPS uses a Dynamic Imaging face recognition system, but it is unclear which algorithm the system employs.
Sources and Notes: DPS, GAO, U.S. Census (Last updated: August 2016). You can review our scorecard criteria in the Methodology section. Numerical citations, e.g. (123456), refer to official records available by clicking "View Documents" below.