The Alonzo Sawyer case adds to just a handful of known instances of innocent people getting arrested following investigations that involved face recognition misidentification—all have been Black men. Three cases came to light in 2019 and 2020, and another last month, in which Georgia resident Randal Reid was released from jail after a judge recalled an arrest warrant linking him to thefts of designer purses in Louisiana.

Carronne Sawyer recalled her husband’s experience in public this month, calling in to the Maryland State House by video chat to speak in support of a proposed law to restrict police use of face recognition. The technology is largely unregulated in the US, but a wave of local restrictions and even bans have been passed in recent years.

Debates that led to those policies have often focused on discussions of harms from police use of face algorithms, such as the chilling effects on free speech and protests, or the consequences of surveillance tools being disproportionately used against communities of color. In Baltimore, Sawyer’s case provided a more tangible reminder of the reasons to restrict the technology.