INTERPOL Uses Facial Recognition to Catch Fugitive Murderer

“Remarkably, it all happened within 48 hours…”

Authorities with INTERPOL have used facial recognition to catch an internationally wanted fugitive after a decade on the run.

The criminal, Kristian Danev, was wanted for murder, Czech Authorities having issued a Red Notice through INTERPOL 10 years ago. Police in Argentina recently thought they had found him, and submitted images of him to INTERPOL’s regional bureau for comparison with Danev’s records on file using facial recognition. The biometric process returned a potential match, and police swept in to make the arrest, with Danev’s admitting his true identity after questioning.

Remarkably, it all happened within 48 hours, according to INTERPOL Director of Operational Support and Analysis Harald Arm. Commenting in a statement, Arm said the case “illustrates the fundamental role of INTERPOL’s policing capabilities and forensic data in international police investigations,” adding, “We need to ensure that vital information moves faster than fugitives.”

The sentiment is very much in line with INTERPOL’s Project First initiative aimed at encouraging law enforcement agencies around the world to take advantage of biometric identification technologies and to share their data with each other extensively. INTERPOL says its facial recognition service, launched in November of 2016, now has a database of 44,000 images from 137 countries.

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February 12, 2018 – by Alex Perala