A grandmother in Tennessee was sentenced to five months in prison after being wrongly identified as a bank fraud suspect by a facial recognition program for a crime that occurred in a state she had never been to.
Angela Lipps, 50, was arrested in July while staying at a rental property in Tennessee. Later, in late October, she was extradited to Fargo, North Dakota—quite far from her home, over 1,000 miles away—according to a GoFundMe page.
The West Fargo Police Department utilized facial recognition technology to label Lipps as a suspect in a local fraud investigation, as noted by Fargo Police Chief Dave Ziborski. His department, after this initial identification, undertook further investigation to confirm her identity.
During a news conference, Ziborski admitted that the technology used by the police department contributed significantly to the wrongful arrest of Lipps.
According to the police, they employed Clearview AI software and found a suspect who appeared similar to Lipps.
Additionally, Lipps spent three months in detention in Tennessee because the Cass County Sheriff’s Office failed to inform North Dakota officials that she was exempt from extradition, contributing to her ordeal.
Lipps mentioned that her trip to North Dakota marked her very first flight, and she added humorously that it would be her first and last visit to that state.
At that moment, Lipps felt “scared, exhausted, and humiliated,” as she shared on GoFundMe, with no resolution in sight.
Once she arrived in Fargo, a lawyer helped her gather bank records that showed she was actually in Tennessee during the time of the alleged fraud.
According to her GoFundMe updates, “It took five minutes for everything to fall apart.” This statement reflects her disbelief about how quickly things escalated.
On December 23, just over five months after her arrest, Fargo detectives and the state attorney, along with a judge, agreed to drop the charges, allowing for further investigation into her case.
Lipps was released on Christmas Eve, but her troubles weren’t over.
During her five-month custody, her reputation suffered, the rental home she was staying at was lost, and all of her possessions were taken because she couldn’t pay for her storage, as mentioned in her GoFundMe.
Lipps conveyed, “I’m not the same woman I was before, and I don’t think I ever will be.”
A fundraiser held on Sunday raised $68,000 to support her. Ziborski stated that the Fargo Police Department will not use or transmit any information from West Fargo’s Clearview AI anymore, citing concerns over the operation and oversight of the system.
He further mentioned that all facial recognition data will now be regularly shared with the investigative division leaders to better monitor this advancing technology.
Ziborski recognized that the department should have sent relevant surveillance photos related to the fraud case to those trained in facial recognition.
In the wake of Lipps’ troublesome arrest, measures are being taken by the department to rectify their mistakes, and they’re currently working to identify other possible suspects in the fraud case.
