The New Orleans City Council is reevaluating its 2022 facial recognition ordinance, a move spurred by recent public safety incidents, including last month’s escape of 10 Orleans Parish detainees and a New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street. Council members Oliver Thomas and Eugene Green are spearheading discussions to potentially broaden the New Orleans Police Department’s (NOPD) ability to use facial recognition technology.
This push for expanded use follows revelations that the NOPD, in partnership with the private non-profit Project NOLA, secretly operated a real-time facial recognition system across over 200 camera feeds from early 2023 to April 2025. The operation, which occurred despite existing legal restrictions, has heightened the debate surrounding police use of advanced surveillance tools.
NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick suspended the department’s access to real-time alerts from Project NOLA in April of this year, pending a legal review to ensure compliance with city law. This action was taken in response to concerns about the program’s adherence to the 2022 ordinance, not a suspension of the ordinance itself. However, the subsequent jailbreak and a report from consultants Teneo, which identified “critical” intelligence gaps at the NOPD, have intensified calls for more immediate access to such technology.
The 2022 ordinance, formally known as the Surveillance Technology and Data Protection Ordinance, eased a prior ban but still set strict guidelines. It permits the use of facial recognition only for investigations of specific violent crimes, requiring officers to exhaust other investigative avenues before requesting a facial recognition search through the Louisiana State Police’s fusion center. Reports from federal monitors indicate the NOPD made only 19 requests for facial recognition searches in all of 2023, yielding just one useful match, suggesting infrequent use.
The utility of facial recognition gained significant attention when a Project NOLA alert helped Louisiana State Police arrest Kendell Myles, the first of the 10 New Orleans jail escapees to be recaptured, even though alerts to NOPD officers had been paused. This success has been highlighted by supporters of expanded use, including Councilmember Thomas, who stated the tool “could have been helpful in the expeditious recognition of the escaped inmates.” Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, echoed this, advocating for the NOPD to use the same technologies available to federal and state law enforcement.
Project NOLA founder Brian Lagarde noted that his system’s cameras can clearly identify faces up to 700 feet away, a stark contrast to the city’s own camera network, which largely operates in 720p or 1080p and is effective only up to about 25 feet for facial recognition. This disparity emphasizes the reliance on private networks for advanced surveillance capabilities.
Local community organizations and privacy advocates, including the ACLU of Louisiana, have voiced strong concerns about the proposed changes. They argue that the secret operation underscores the need for stronger oversight rather than expanded permissions. Executive Director Alanah Odoms wrote a May 20 letter urging the council to impose a moratorium on NOPD’s use, citing the unprecedented power the technology gives government to track individuals.
The City Council’s decision could have far-reaching implications beyond New Orleans, potentially influencing how other municipalities balance public safety measures with privacy protections in the age of artificial intelligence and advanced surveillance technologies. The unique public-private partnership between the NOPD and Project NOLA, lacking formal city contracts, continues to raise questions about accountability and oversight. The City Council and other oversight bodies are actively investigating the extent of the NOPD’s use of facial recognition and considering reforms to ensure compliance and protect civil rights.
Sources: Govtech, The Marshall Project, ACLU
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By Ali Nassar-Smith
