Cambridgeshire Constabulary plans to use live facial recognition in Cambridge city centre for the first time on Friday, October 2, following deployments in Peterborough.
The system compares faces captured by cameras with a police watchlist in real time. The force says it will be used to locate people wanted for criminal offenses or on outstanding warrants, as well as certain high-risk individuals subject to court-imposed notification requirements.
A potential match generates an alert for officers to review. Officers assess the alert and determine whether further action is appropriate, rather than treating the software’s comparison as an automatic identification or arrest decision.
The force says biometric data relating to people who do not generate an alert is automatically and irretrievably deleted. Images associated with an alert are deleted immediately after use or within 24 hours.
Sergeant Luke Charlton said members of the public can speak with officers at the deployment about the technology and its use. Police are presenting the operation as a targeted means of finding people on the watchlist within a busy public setting.
The Cambridge operation follows Cambridgeshire’s first city-centre deployment in Peterborough. That earlier operation used technology borrowed from Bedfordshire Police and included public information about the facial-recognition checks.
The county’s deployments are part of a wider expansion of live facial recognition by UK police. The Metropolitan Police has planned additional static operations across London’s West End, following use of fixed-camera arrangements in Croydon.
The Metropolitan Police’s approach involves temporary operation of the cameras with officers present, using facial comparisons to identify potential watchlist matches. Its planned expansion covers areas including Soho, with further deployments scheduled later in the year.
In Cambridge, the watchlist and officer review determine how an alert is handled. The live comparison identifies a potential match for assessment, while people who do not match the watchlist have their biometric data removed through the system’s automatic deletion process.
Cambridgeshire Police says its previous Peterborough deployments have been successful. Friday’s operation extends the force’s use of the technology to Cambridge city centre, with officers available on site to explain the process and respond to questions from the public.
Sources: Cambridgeshire Constabulary
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
