Chicago, IL: Last week, a man wearing all black clothing and a mask approached a group of young adults innocently hanging out on a pier at Rogers Park in Chicago decided to pull out a gun and randomly shoot at the group.
One of the members of the group, Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University student, was shot in the neck and died from her injuries.
Authorities swiftly tracked down the alleged shooter, Jose Medina-Medina, 25, in part with the aid of facial recognition software and arrested and charged Medina with murder, among other charges.
Medina is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who entered the United States 2023 under the Biden administration.
The swift apprehension of Medina was largely credited due to the immediate response from law enforcement and the application of biometric reading software used.
Without the software, capturing the suspect would most likely have been delayed and may easily have led to additional serious crimes being committed.
“This case was cracked in large part due to looking at the videos from the cameras in the area of the murder, and run them through different systems until they found a match,” retired Chief of Detectives Captain Eugene Roy told Fox News Digital.
But a recent bill, HB 5521, has been introduced and supported by the ACLU to cease using such biometric software.
Many law enforcement advocates, such as retired Captain Roy, believe such a bill would be detrimental to law enforcement and will lead to more dangerous crimes being committed.
“If the Illinois biometric law is passed, it will prohibit all law enforcement agencies and any other government agencies in Illinois from using biometric identification systems, which by the way, looking at a synopsis of the legislation, includes fingerprints,” Roy told Fox News Digital.
But the HB 5521 has the support of the Illinois ACLU, who argued that using such biometric technology is inappropriate, especially as it relates to illegal immigration.
No surprise there.
“But the harms of this technology were on full display as DHS, according the Attorney General’s lawsuit, used biometric surveillance technology to scan the faces and fingerprints of people more than 100,000 comparing the faces of citizens and non-citizens against a variety of government databases containing 200 million images and a deep well of data including name, date of birth, and immigration status,” the ACLU wrote on their website.
They added, “Whether its federal agents, or local law enforcement, biometric surveillance threatens the well-being of our communities, our privacy rights and our ability to freely express ideas, protest government policies, and attend places of worship.”
One of the main concerns of eliminating biometric software to help solve crimes is simply that it will complicate the process of finding criminals and lead to additional violent crimes that would otherwise have been prevented.
“It’s going to be just short of crippling detective work. You have to be able to identify people. When you build a case, it’s not just based on an identification; it’s not just based on a picture. It’s based on a combination of a lot of things. It’s based on identification, it’s based on witness accounts, it’s based on physical evidence,” retired Captain Roy said.
He added, “It’s like building a wall. If you take away the bricks that are at the foundation of that wall, the wall is going to crumble.”
On its surface, the bill to stop allowing biometric software to catch criminals appears to be politicizing what is otherwise a common-sense application to law enforcement.
If you live in Illinois and want to oppose this bill, it’s easy. You need to file a witness slip online at ilga.gov to officially register your opposition during the committee process. You should also contact your specific state representative and senator to express your concerns directly.
Don’t let politics get in the way of law enforcement… again!
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Writer Eddie Molina is a veteran and has over 25 years of combined LEO/military service. He owns and operates the LEO apparel and accessory company www.BuyHeroStuff.com
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