A high school student in Baltimore was placed in handcuffs after an artificial intelligence system apparently mistook his bag of Doritos for a firearm. According to reports, Taki Allen was sitting with friends Monday night outside Kenwood High School when police officers arrived with guns and approached him. “It was like eight cop cars that came pulling up for us. At first, I didn’t know where they were going until they started walking toward me with guns, talking about, ‘Get on the ground,’ and I was like, ‘What?’” Allen recounted.
Police told Allen an AI detector thought his bag of chips was a deadly weapon. “They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me. Then, they searched me and they figured out I had nothing,” Allen said. “Then, they went over to where I was standing and found a bag of chips on the floor,” he added. Allen described an officer showing him a picture from the AI detection system, claiming the crumpled-up bag of Doritos resembled a gun.
County police issued a statement, noting that officers responded to a report of a suspicious person with a weapon at Kenwood High School. The statement said the subject was searched and found not to be in possession of any weapons. Last year, Baltimore County high schools began using a gun detection system that employs AI to identify potential weapons via school cameras. The system alerts school safety teams and law enforcement when a possible weapon is detected.
Allen’s grandfather, Lamont Davis, expressed concern, saying, “Nobody wants this to happen to their child. No one wants this to happen.” Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers stated the system functioned as intended, emphasizing human verification in such cases. However, Allen criticized the school’s response, noting the principal did not contact him for three days after the incident. “I was expecting them to at least come up to me after the situation or the day after, but three days later that just shows like, do you really care or are you just doing it because the superintendent called me,” he said.
Allen now feels unsafe in a place where he should feel secure. “Now, I feel like sometimes after practice I don’t go outside anymore. Cause if I go outside, I don’t want – don’t think I’m safe enough to go outside, especially eating a bag of chips or drinking something. I just stay inside until my ride comes,” he said. He called for improved technology to prevent similar incidents. Superintendent Rogers mentioned she would review the notification process and consider changes.
