Skip to content

Facial recognition cameras lead to seven arrests

Essex Police Two police vans parked in Southend city centre. Shoppers can be seen walking along the street.Essex Police
Two vans fitted with LFR technology were deployed in Southend city centre for four days

Facial recognition technology used in a city centre led to seven arrests, police said.

Essex Police said they received 14 alerts from live facial recognition (LFR) software in Southend between Thursday and Sunday last week.

Among the arrests were individuals connected to an aggravated burglary, a domestic assault, an assault on an emergency worker and shoplifting.

The remaining alerts identified people who were able to assist investigations by finding others of interest.

Essex Police A police officer points inside a van as he shows a boy the technology behind the facial recognition camerasEssex Police
Essex Police say the use of the system has seen a positive response from the public

The operation comes a month after Essex Police used LFR technology for the first time at Clacton Airshow, which led to three arrests across the two days.

The force said that, since its first use, they had received 30 alerts and made 16 arrests, without a single incorrect alert.

Supt Leigh Norris said: "The technology utilises CCTV camera feeds to LFR software to scan faces against a predetermined database or ‘watch list’ of people of interest.

“The scanning of an image takes less than a second. The data or image of those not on the watch list is automatically and immediately deleted and not stored."

He added the presence of the vans in the city centre gave police the opportunity to explain the technology to the public.

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Related internet links