California Incident: Alleged Wrongful Detainment Due to AI-Powered License Plate Reader Error Highlights Importance of Safe and Secure AI
November 23, 2018
This AI incident involving an automated license plate reader in California illustrates the critical role of trustworthy AI. The system incorrectly flagged a rental car as stolen, leading to a high-risk stop and detainment at gunpoint before confirmation of innocence. The driver later filed a federal lawsuit for excessive force and database errors. This incident maps to the Govern function in HISPI Project Cerebellum Trusted AI Model (TAIM). Ready to help ensure safe and secure AI? JOIN US
- Alleged deployer
- contra-costa-county-sheriff
- Alleged developer
- vigilant-solutions
- Alleged harmed parties
- brian-hofer
Source
Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/248
Data source
Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).
When citing the database as a whole, please use:
McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.
Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide
We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.