Live facial recognition first use in Cambs

State-of-the-art facial recognition technology will be deployed for the first time in Cambridgeshire on Saturday (16 May).

Live Facial Recognition (LFR), which allows officers to identify wanted people, will be deployed in Peterborough city centre.

It will be the first time LFR has been used in Cambridgeshire, with the aim of locating those who pose the greatest threat to the wider public.

The technology works by comparing faces from a live camera feed against a police-generated watchlist in real-time. It analyses key facial features and creates a mathematical representation of these features, known as a facial biometric template, which is then used to find possible matches.

The watchlist includes suspects wanted for criminal offences, those with outstanding warrants for arrest ordered by the courts, and high-risk offenders with notifications requirements imposed by courts.

An officer will review images flagged as a potential match to determine whether further action is required.

Images that trigger an alert are deleted immediately after use or within 24 hours, while the images and biometric data of individuals who do not trigger an alert will be deleted automatically. Once deleted, they cannot be retrieved.

Assistant Chief Constable John Massey said: “LFR supports policing by identifying wanted people, ensuring they are brought to justice swiftly

“It is another tool at our disposal in our drive to reduce crime and create a safer county. 

“While this capability is new to Cambridgeshire, it has been used across policing and security services for some time and has improved greatly, even outperforming its anticipated accuracy and success rate.

“We know the community will have a lot of questions about the use of advanced technology within policing and officers will be on hand to engage with the community and answer any queries they may have.”

The locations where LFR is deployed will be clearly marked with signage featuring a QR code linking to information about the technology on the force website.

The equipment being used on Saturday has been borrowed from Bedfordshire Police, which was one of seven forces announced as receiving dedicated LFR capability in August last year.

Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston said: “As the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners joint lead on forensics, I welcome the introduction of LFR in our county. It presents a remarkable opportunity in preventing and fighting crime.

“I know that officers will be working hard to ensure the necessary protections for the public are in place and observed so that this potent crime fighting and crime prevention tool can be used appropriately and effectively to protect us all.”

Find out more information about LFR use in Cambridgeshire.