A number of Hudson Valley residents are among the over 100 who were arrested thanks to a new DMV facial recognition program.

The program that was launched in January fights identity theft and fraud, and removes high-risk drivers from the road, doubles the number of measurement points mapped to each digitized driver photograph to vastly improve the system's ability to match a photograph to one that already exists in DMV's database.

"Facial recognition plays a critical role in keeping our communities safer by cracking down on individuals who break the law," Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated. "New York is leading the nation with this technology, and the results from our use of this enhanced technology are proof positive that its use is vital in making our roads safer and holding fraudsters accountable.”

Arrests Occurred in the Following Regions:
• New York City – 40
• Capital Region – 26
• Long Island – 17
• Mid-Hudson – 13
• Western NY – 3
• Finger Lakes – 3
• Southern Tier – 2
• Central NY – 1

"DMV is a national leader in the use of facial recognition technology, and we are encouraged by the success of our improved system in just a few short months, DMV Executive Deputy Commissioner Terri Egan said. “DMV's facial recognition technology prevents fraud by those who attempt to manipulate the system, including every-day motorists as well as commercial and for-hire drivers who transport goods and people throughout the state."

According to the Governor’s office recent cases using enhanced facial recognition technology has helped investigators catch perpetrators including:
• A man who is accused of filing for a license under a stolen identity allegedly stated that his information had not changed and that he has never had a suspended or revoked license. At the time of his application, his New Jersey commercial driver license under his true name was suspended for four alcohol-related offenses.
• Nearly two dozen individuals who allegedly modified their names and dates of birth to obtain secondary social security numbers and use them to get new licenses to bypass suspensions, revocations, or higher insurance costs.
• Five individuals who attempted to take over someone else’s existing New York State DMV record.

Individuals who are arrested based on facial recognition matches are typically charged with filing a false instrument, tampering with public records, and forgery.

The upgraded system increases the number of measurement points on the face from 64 to 128, doubling the number of measurement points mapped to each digitized driver photograph and vastly improving the system's ability to match a photograph to one already in the database. The system also allows for the ability to overlay images, invert colors, and convert images to black and white to better see scars and identifying features on the face. Different hair styles, glasses, and other features that change over time do not prevent the system from matching photographs, officials say.

 

 

More From WRRV-WRRB