1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

Arizona needs comprehensive legislation to ban law enforcement use of facial recognition technology. The recent collapse of the Javier Lorenzano-Nunez murder prosecution in Phoenix demonstrates exactly why this technology is too dangerous for police use. In August 2025, prosecutors dismissed a first-degree murder charge against Lorenzano-Nunez just 10 months after his high-profile arrest. Phoenix police had used facial recognition software from the Arizona Department of Public Safety and FBI to identify him as a suspect in Sarah Carr's 1998 murder. The technology generated 250 possible matches from a decades-old photo, and investigators selected Lorenzano-Nunez based on a 2011 arrest photo from San Diego. He was arrested in Tijuana and held in a Mexican prison during extradition proceedings. The case fell apart because Lorenzano-Nunez was excluded by every single piece of forensic evidence tested, including DNA, fingerprints, and handwriting analysis. Investigators found no ties connecting him to Arizona. The alias linking him to the crime scene was only added to his record by Phoenix Police and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office as a result of their investigation. A judge ruled that Phoenix cold case detective Dominick Roestenberg gave misleading grand jury testimony by failing to disclose the use of facial recognition technology. According to Nate Freed Wessler, deputy director with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, facial recognition technology reliably gets it wrong more often when used on people of color, darker-skinned people, younger and older people, and women. At least 10 false arrests nationally have resulted from this technology, and Lorenzano-Nunez's case could be number 11. About 20 jurisdictions, including Boston and San Francisco, have already banned its use. Despite this wrongful prosecution, both Phoenix Police and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office stated they do not plan to change how they use facial recognition technology. Without legislative action, more innocent people will be arrested and prosecuted based on unreliable algorithmic matches. I urge you to introduce and support legislation banning law enforcement use of facial recognition technology in Arizona to prevent future wrongful arrests and prosecutions.