The Lawton, Oklahoma City Council approved a policy governing police use of facial recognition technology (FRT), moving the city closer to potential deployment of Clearview AI while placing formal limits on how officers may use biometric searches in criminal investigations. Police in New Mexico’s state capitol will have to follow Lawton’s lead if they want to use Clearview.
The council adopted Policy 11-04, establishing rules for the Lawton Police Department’s use of facial recognition technology. The policy limits use of FRT to developing investigative leads and states that a facial recognition result may not be used as sole evidence, to establish probable cause, or to make an arrest. Any possible match must be verified through additional investigative methods.
Lawton’s policy attempts to address some of the concerns that have made facial recognition controversial nationally, including false matches, automation bias, lack of disclosure, racial disparities, and the risk that an investigative lead could become a de facto identification.
The policy was approved after city officials said the police department was evaluating Clearview AI. City officials said Lawton has not yet purchased or implemented the technology, and that the policy was adopted in advance to set safeguards and oversight rules before any potential use.
The policy says FRT may be used to assist in identifying potential victims, including in human trafficking or child sexual abuse material cases, deceased people, incapacitated people or people who do not know their identities, lawfully detained people whose identities are in question, suspects in unsolved crimes, missing or endangered people, and unknown individuals tied to another legitimate law enforcement purpose.
The policy also requires the police chief or a designee to approve any FRT system before implementation and to appoint an FRT coordinator. The coordinator is responsible for procedures governing officer requests, review of results, data collection and storage, access controls, image submission, data quality assurance, periodic audits, training, maintenance, error reporting, and information sharing with outside agencies.
Lawton’s policy bars several uses of the technology. FRT may not be used for arrests based solely on facial recognition results, for any purpose that violates the First, Fourth or 14th Amendments, for non-law enforcement purposes, as the sole basis for identification or probable cause, to harass or intimidate people, or to target people or groups solely on protected characteristics such as race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability.
The city also sought to distinguish the proposed Clearview AI use from real-time surveillance. According to the city’s explanation, the software would not connect to city-owned, traffic, private or business cameras, scan people in real time, take photographs of the public, or create a city database of residents’ faces. Images would be used only when tied to a specific active investigation.
Access would be limited to detectives and a criminal analyst, with about 26 personnel across the Criminal Investigations Division, Special Operations, and the Gang Intelligence Unit expected to have access if the tool is implemented.
Each search would require a case number and create a permanent audit trail that cannot be deleted, and all users would have to complete training before access is granted.
Lawton’s action comes as Oklahoma City has already moved ahead with Clearview. In July 2025, the Oklahoma City Council approved the police department’s request to purchase AI facial comparison software after city staff said Clearview AI was the only vendor among three contacted that met the department’s specifications.
The council approved more than $37,000 for Clearview AI facial comparison analysis through July 2026, with Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon opposing the purchase because of privacy concerns.
Oklahoma City police have described the system in terms similar to Lawton’s policy, saying it is intended to generate leads in investigations, not probable cause for arrest.
The department said the technology could be used to help identify suspects, lost children, elderly people and deceased people whose identities are unknown, and that detectives would need approval from two supervisors before a photograph could be processed through the software.
The Oklahoma City vote was controversial in part because Clearview AI has faced litigation and regulatory scrutiny over its collection of facial images from the Internet.
Elsewhere in Oklahoma, the picture is more mixed. The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office has used facial recognition at the Tulsa State Fair for security, lost child reunification, and identifying people with warrants or prior bans from the fairgrounds.
Sante Fe commissioners put Clearview pilot proposal on ice
In neighboring New Mexico, Sante Fe County commissioners have set aside a request to approve a pilot with Clearview AI pending the creation of a policy for police use of facial recognition, the Sante Fe New Mexican reports.
The county Sheriff’s office had proposed a one-year pilot of Clearview’s face biometrics for $17,100. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said a few detectives and “select supervisors” would have access to the tool.
Commissioners expressed a desire for a formal process and regulation to ensure the technology and the data it provides are used and shared in a way that protects citizens. One commissioner told the publication that the agency must provide assurances it will not share data with federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Mendoza noted that “You don’t use it as your sole source of probable cause to charge a crime,” a distinction that has repeatedly eluded American police using facial recognition. The New Mexican alludes to the example of a Tennessee woman who was detained in North Dakota for months following what appears to be a false positive match by Clearview’s facial recognition.
Clearview AI currently has live contracts with the Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico State Police, Española Police Department and the Pueblo of Pojoaque Police Department.
Article Topics
biometric matching | biometrics | Clearview AI | facial recognition | New Mexico | Oklahoma | police