SurveillanceHigh
Unverified Misreading by Automated Plate Reader Led to Traffic Stop and Restraint of an Innocent Person at Gunpoint in California
- Occurred
- Mar 30, 2009
- Published
- May 23, 2014
- Source
- AI Incident Database
Summary
In San Francisco, an automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera misread a number as belonging to a stolen vehicle having the wrong make, but its photo was not visually confirmed by the police due to poor quality and allegedly despite multiple chances prior to making a traffic stop, causing an innocent person to be pulled over at gunpoint and restrained in handcuffed.
Developers
- Unknown
Deployers
- San Francisco Police Department
Harmed parties
- Denise Green
Classification
Category confidence: 95%
Severity confidence: 90%
Rationale: ALPR system failure led to wrongful traffic stop and restraint at gunpoint, involving surveillance technology misuse.
Classifier: Qwen/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-FP8