Yahoo News Police to deploy 'cutting edge' facial recognition at coastal destination
Essex Police are set to deploy live facial recognition technology in Southend during the bank holiday weekend in an attempt to catch wanted criminals. The technology, which was deployed for the first time at Clacton Airshow, is used to identify individuals wanted for offences.
The technology is used to identify people that police want to speak to in connection with serious offences. At recent trials, officers have been able to speak to people in connection with a rape and a robbery.
When deployed at Clacton Airshow on Thursday (August 22) officers received five positive alerts and made three arrests. They included an arrest relating to a domestic assault, a common assault and a dangerous dog offence related to an incident where a girl was injured after being bitten by a dog.
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Live cameras monitor people walking nearby and use biometric details - such as measurements of gaps between eyes - to compare the faces with those on the manually-inputted 'watch list' database.
If your face is not on the watch list, the technology deletes your image in a fraction of a second. It’s not retained and it’s not stored on a database. The technology is so clever it will recognise someone's face even if it is partially covered by a scarf or sunglasses.
The vans will be deployed in Southend on Sunday (August 25) and Bank Holiday Monday (August 26). Chief Superintendent Leighton Hammett said the technology is shown to have a positive impact on investigations.
They said: "This shows that the Live Facial Recognition technology can have a positive impact on investigations. We have been able to identify and speak to people we had been looking for in connection with ongoing investigations and either make arrests, make appointments, or get information which has furthered our enquiries.
"This technology is an investment in our communities. It’s an effective way of finding people we want to speak to and keeping the public safe.
"This was highlighted by the successful trial deployments in October 2023. Using LFR to find someone can be a more efficient use of resources than a team of officers carrying out various time-consuming enquiries to locate them.
"This technology can save time and effort of our officers, leaving them able to do other work to protect and help the public, and further investigations. Cutting edge technology is playing an important role in protecting the public, responding to and investigating crimes, and getting justice for victims.
"LFR technology is used to locate people we want to speak to in connection with ongoing investigations and to manage individuals with court orders or conditions and equally protect those who are most at risk of harm. Criminals cannot think that they can walk around our communities without being caught.
"We already use retrospective facial recognition technology to identify people suspect of offences from things like CCTV images. This is an efficient and effective way of locating people we want to speak to. During a trial in October 2023, we had five positive alerts across two days leading to three arrests including for rape and robbery."
