ORLANDO, Fla. -- The city of Orlando has decided to continue its test of Amazon's controversial facial recognition technology, it said Monday.

Orlando Police had said the city's test of Amazon's Rekognition software ended in June. The American Civil Liberties Union says records indicate Orlando's test began in 2017.

Citing privacy concerns, a coalition of groups -- including the ACLU, Arab American Community Center of Florida, the Florida Immigration Coalition, NeJame Law, the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, the United Faculty of Florida at UCF and Mi Familia Vota -- have demanded that Orlando discontinue the test.

The technology uses some of Orlando's existing city-owned cameras and Amazon's artificial intelligence software to "identify the objects, people, text, scenes and activities, as well as detect any inappropriate content," according to the Amazon website. Rekognition also provides "highly accurate facial analysis and facial recognition."

Orlando Police Chief John Mina said Monday that the department will start up a second round of the pilot program shortly and will continue to test it with seven officers who volunteered to be part of the program.   

The officers provided their image, and there are eight cameras set up at the police department and downtown. The goal is to see whether the technology works and will recognize their faces. 

"You think about all the technology that is out there -- internet, our cell phones -- all that technology could be used for good or evil. I think the city of Orlando, the police department, has never used that technology in a negative manner," Mina said. This is to enhance public safety. It's just really to prevent the next tragedy."

The software can recognize up to 100 people in a single image, using a private repository of images, and can identify people in an image even when their faces aren't clearly visible, Amazon says.

"The City of Orlando and Orlando Police Department are always looking for new solutions to further our ability to keep our residents and visitors safe," the city said in a news release. "Part of that effort includes using technology-based policing and having a modern police department that can continue to address public safety through a variety of innovative, proven approaches."

A letter sent from the ACLU of Florida to Orlando said that "face surveillance systems like Rekognition present a grave threat to Orlando residents and visitors." It said Orlando could use Rekognition to track people without their knowledge or consent -- and alleges that Amazon has marketed it that way.

A time frame for when the second pilot program would begin or how long it would last has not been announced.