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Suffolk Constabulary is to trial use of Live Facial Recognition technology to keep people safe and deter crime, using equipment supplied by neighbouring Essex Police.
The trial will take place on 22 February in Ipswich town centre and the force will be using two vans and equipment on loan from Essex which is one of three police forces in England and Wales to won the technology.
During the day the technology will be used to locate people wanted in connection with investigations into serious offences.
”This technology has been proven elsewhere to be an effective tactic for locating and arresting suspects that are wanted for serious offences.
“People in Ipswich on Saturday 22 February should feel reassured that we are only looking for those individuals who have committed serious offences.
“We are keen to raise public awareness around our use of technology to protect communities and bring offenders to justice so it is important that we provide insight around the trial of this equipment and tactics.”
Assistant Chief Constable Eamonn Bridger.
The technology compares live camera feeds of faces against a predetermined database or ‘watch list’ of people of interest. Put simply, if you’re not on the ‘watch list’ your face cannot be matched.
The scanning of an image takes less than a second. The data/image of those not on the ‘watchlist’ is automatically and immediately deleted and not stored. When there is a positive match, appropriate action will be taken by officers on the ground to confirm ID and then assess what the next action is to be taken.
ACC Bridger added: “It’s important to make clear that we take your privacy very seriously and images of members of the public won’t be stored.
“If you are in a location where LFR is being deployed and you are not one of the specific people we’re trying to locate, your image will be immediately and automatically deleted.
“It’s an effective way of finding people we want to speak to and keeping the public safe. This technology can save time and effort of our officers, leaving them able to do other work to protect and help the public.”
The announcement by Suffolk Police follows the release of a new report by Biometrics Institute, which outlines the urgent need for a clearer, consistent framework governing Facial Recognition technology use in public places.
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