Facial recognition helps cops solve some of Chicago’s most heinous crimes. This state legislator wants to shut it down.

CWB Chicago ^ | March 22, 2026 | Tim Hecke

[PBRCat]

if a North Side state legislator gets her way, Illinois police will soon be barred from using any facial recognition database, including the Secretary of State’s, to do their work ever again.

The bill is called the Illinois Biometric Surveillance Act, and it’s being pushed by Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who represents most of Rogers Park and Edgewater in Springfield. Cassidy’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.

Her proposed law would ban the use of facial recognition and other biometric identifiers by law enforcement statewide. No agency could use the technology or enter into an agreement with a state or federal agency to use it. The bill would still allow “fingerprinting pursuant to an arrest or conviction, or to collect forensic evidence at a crime scene.” The bill does not include the ultimate biometric, DNA, among its “biometric identifiers.”

To be clear about how the tool works: a potential facial recognition match alone is not enough to file charges. Detectives use it to help generate leads and identify potential suspects.

It is especially useful in CTA investigations because the transit system is blanketed with an exceptionally high-quality surveillance camera network.

[PBRCat]

Kelly Cassidy is a carpetbagging lunatic from Florida who moved to Illinois and has managed to sponsor some of the worst legislation that has made the Prairie State almost unlivable. Oh, yes. Her background is absolutely insane.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Once upon a time Rogers Park was a reasonably nice section of Chicago.

[PBRCat]

If this law was on the books already, the suspected killer of Sheridan Gorman, who was murdered on the campus of Loyola University in the Rogers Park area of Chicago, might be at large. The police located him by using video camera surveillance footage.

[Albion Wilde]

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Honestly, my blood is still boiling over Sheridan's murder. She was a good young woman,
and came from a very good conservative MAGA family.

Her killer is a scum of the earth Venezuelan greaseball turd. He deserves the death penalty.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

OK, got it. Thanks for the correction. Still, I find it uncanny how these refinery "incidents" always happen at the worst possible time.

[mass55th]

How many of the perps are illegal aliens in that wonderful sanctuary city?

[PBRCat]

This lunatic’s hairstyle looks as if her hair was dyed by dunking her head in a toilet filled with Tidy Bowl.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

[Bob434]

Pretty soon the liberal legislature will mandate that crim8naks be issued conceal carrt permits free of charge, and hand them 1000 get out of jail free cards.

[reg45]

That government of the criminal, by the criminal, and for the criminal shall not perish from the state.

[Mark]

YO! Liberal! SHAME on your mother for not aborting you!

[Chickensoup]

A man?

Looks it.

[PBRCat]

Kelly Cassidy’s district is loaded with illegals.

[mass55th]

Doesn’t surprise me.

[dvan34]

She should ban the use of fingerprint data also. The use use of fingerprinting is self-incriminating.

[EVO X]

On a related note, Illinois shutdown instant access to license plate reader data by out of state law enforcement agencies about a year ago. They have to put in a formal request..

[bk1000]

Well, they all look alike, even to computers.

[Vaduz]

Actions matches looks a lot of hate going on in that one.

[packrat35]

LOL true.