NYPD Used Fire Department To Skirt Facial Recognition Ban

A city fire marshal helped NYPD detectives identify a pro-Palestinian protester by using the FDNY’s access to the controversial facial recognition software, Clearview AI. This collaboration allowed the police department to bypass its own strict policies that limit the use of such technology.

Details of this arrangement came to light through a Manhattan criminal court judge's decision and a lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society, which represented the protester, 21-year-old CUNY student Zuhdi Ahmed.

Police were looking for a person accused of throwing a rock during a campus skirmish in April 2024. With the FDNY's help, they identified Ahmed using Clearview AI, a tool the FDNY has had a contract with since December 2022. Court records also revealed that the fire marshal accessed Department of Motor Vehicles documents, which are typically off-limits to police without special clearance.

From Felony Charge to Case Dismissed

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg initially charged Ahmed with a felony hate crime, which was later reduced to a misdemeanor. In a significant turn, a criminal court judge dismissed the case entirely in June. In a detailed ruling, Judge Valentina Morales raised serious concerns about government surveillance and law enforcement practices that violated their own rules.

“Where the state routinely gathers, searches, seizes, and preserves colossal amounts of information, transparency must remain a touchstone, lest fairness be lost,” Judge Morales wrote.

The Controversial Tech: Clearview AI and City Policy

Clearview AI is a powerful tool used by many law enforcement agencies across the nation, including federal ones. It works by matching uploaded photos against a massive database scraped from social media and other public websites. While the NYPD has used this technology before, its use is now forbidden under a 2020 facial recognition policy that restricts searches to official arrest and parole photos.

A city law known as the POST Act also mandates the NYPD to be transparent about its surveillance technologies, a requirement the department has not always met, according to the city's Department of Investigation.

The search on Ahmed pulled up personal photos from his high school formal, a school play, and his graduation.

"A Dystopian, Futuristic Movie": The Student's Ordeal

Ahmed, a Westchester resident of Palestinian descent, expressed his shock and fear over the situation. Since his arrest, he has been targeted with hateful mail and online harassment. “It’s something straight out of a dystopian, futuristic movie,” he said. “It’s honestly kind of scary to think about what people are capable of in terms of surveillance.”

Privacy advocates echoed his concerns. “The NYPD keeps using these incredibly disturbing companies to spy on New Yorkers, while hiding that surveillance from the public and violating New York City law in the process,” stated Albert Fox Cahn of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. “The FDNY is clearly being complicit in enabling these NYPD abuses.”

The NYPD directed inquiries to the FDNY, which stated that its approved fire marshals have access to Clearview AI and use it as a tool in criminal investigations, asserting they “always follow all local, state and federal laws.”

Legal Aid has since filed a lawsuit to get more information about the FDNY's use of facial recognition technology, as its initial Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests were unsuccessful.

‘All Good Bro…Happy to Help’: The Email Trail

Emails disclosed during the case revealed the casual and direct collaboration between the two agencies. On June 3, 2024, after the NYPD posted a wanted photo of Ahmed on Instagram, an FDNY fire marshal reached out to an NYPD detective.

“Hey brother,” he wrote, explaining he ran the photo “through our facial.” The search yielded photos of Ahmed at his high school graduation, where he wore a stole with a Palestinian flag. “Not too sure what the scarf says but maybe related to Palestine?” the fire marshal noted.

He then provided links from the Clearview AI search and offered to pull a driver’s license photo, saying, “We have access to that.” Within minutes of the detective providing Ahmed’s name, the fire marshal replied, “Bingo.”

This move is significant because NYPD detectives cannot access DMV records without supervisory approval. After Ahmed was arrested, the fire marshal emailed the detective, “Saw the news. Good work. Glad you grabbed him.” The detective credited the fire marshal for the help, who replied, “All good bro happy to help. Don’t hesitate to reach out again if you need anything.”

The judge's ruling noted that the NYPD would not have identified Ahmed without the FDNY’s assistance, which “clearly contravene[s] official NYPD policy.”

A Systemic Problem: Calls to Close the Surveillance Gap

Privacy advocates and city officials are now pushing to expand the POST Act to cover all city agencies, not just the NYPD, to prevent such loopholes.

In response to the revelations, City Council members are drafting new legislation. Councilmember Julie Won announced a bill that would prohibit city agencies from using surveillance tech on behalf of law enforcement and require them to disclose their own use of such tools. “No matter what they’re using it for, the public deserves to know,” Won said.

Other council members called the situation “deeply concerning” and a “warning shot” about the lack of oversight on powerful surveillance tools.

For Ahmed, the dismissal of his case brought “the greatest relief” of his life. He is now focused on recovering from the ordeal and plans to apply to medical school. “For the past year, I was scared of all the accusations, I was scared of what society thought of me,” he said.