The Washington Post: Let’s Face It: This Valuable Technology Is Easy for Police To Misuse

James Madison Institute · Nov 2, 2026

In August 2024, police arrested Robert Dillon at his home in Fort Myers, Florida, claiming that he had attempted to abduct a child at a McDonald’s in Jacksonville Beach, roughly 300 miles away. Dillon insisted that he had never been to that city.

The case rested on an artificial intelligence facial recognition search that had matched Dillon’s face to grainy surveillance footage at the restaurant. Police used this information, along with a restaurant employee’s statement, to arrest Dillon.

Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges, but the damage had largely been done. Dillon had been…