The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) in Alberta, Canada is launching a proof-of-concept pilot to test facial recognition features in Axon body-worn video cameras. According to local reporting and an EPS news release, up to 50 officers already equipped with body-worn cameras will use devices with facial recognition enabled during a limited trial period beginning in December.
During the pilot, the facial recognition capability will run in the background and will not notify officers in real time. Instead, recorded footage will be processed after the fact to test whether the system can correctly match faces against an EPS database of mugshots. EPS says the watchlist will be limited to individuals with safety flags, cautions, or outstanding warrants for serious offenses such as murder, aggravated assault, and robbery. Any system possible resemblance notifications will be reviewed and validated by trained officers.
EPS states that still images extracted for facial recognition processing will be deleted once the test is complete, while the underlying video footage will be retained under its standard retention rules. The pilot’s results are to be evaluated by the Edmonton Police Commission and the Chief’s Committee, which will decide whether to proceed with further testing in 2026. EPS has also submitted a privacy impact assessment on the pilot to Alberta’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for review.
Sources: CityNews Edmonton, Edmonton Police Service
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
