In early May, two police officers in Moscow's Lomonosovsky District beat and detained a 15-year-old schoolboy after an AI face recognition system malfunctioned. According to the teenager's father, the officers approached his son from behind, threw him to the ground, and beat him before taking him to a police station.
The boy repeatedly said he was a minor and asked to contact his parents, but his requests were ignored. His father said that in the police car, the schoolboy's legs were bound, he continued to be hit, and officers threatened to kill him.
At the station, the teenager was accused of drug distribution. His mother only learned of the detention two and a half hours later, when police called her. At the station, she was told that the AI system had found an 85–90% facial match between her son and a person in a wanted notice. After questioning, both the schoolboy and his mother were released. One of the officers involved in the detention explained the incident as a "human factor" and a shortage of personnel.
Doctors diagnosed the teenager with a concussion, a closed head injury, hematomas, bruises, and multiple abrasions. Police said the schoolboy tried to flee, actively resisted, and injured officers, so "combat fighting techniques" were used against him. The boy's father claims that CCTV footage shows the two men attacking his son first.
The family has filed a complaint with the Investigative Committee. According to the father, a review of the officers' actions has been ongoing for four months, but parents have not been informed of its results — the committee only replies that the review continues.