Getting in the face of the most wanted

POLICE BRING SPECIALIST TECH TO PICCADILLY GARDENS IN HUNT FOR PEOPLE ON 3,000-STRONG 'WATCHLIST'

- By STEPHEN TOPPING

IN ONE of the city's busiest spots, new technology has been used to find Greater Manchester's most wanted.

Live facial recognition technology has been introduced by Greater Manchester Police in recent weeks. Yesterday, it was used in Piccadilly Gardens for the first time.

GMP is responsible for two specialist vans, funded by the Home Office, which can be used across the North West.

They are each fitted with two fixed cameras, while computers inside the van contain software which uses biometric data to match faces in the crowd to one of the faces on a 'watchlist'.

Use of the cameras led to two men being arrested yesterday - a 40-year-old who was wanted on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, and a 36-year-old wanted for criminal damage, with a bail condition not to enter Piccadilly Gardens.

Yet the technology is not without its critics, with civil liberties groups campaigning against the use of live facial recognition across the country.

But GMP says it follows strict guidance on use of the technology, which it hopes will prove to become a valuable tool in the search for wanted offenders and vulnerable missing people.

Piccadilly Gardens was the third location GMP had used the cameras, following two days in Sale and two in Bolton last month.

Police say locations are chosen based on intelligence with Piccadilly Gardens selected as a hotspot for crime, including violence and shoplifting but the cameras could also be used where major events are taking place, or disorder has occurred.

Chief Inspector Mike Tachauer, who works on the city centre at GMP, believes the tool could be a 'real positive' in one of the city's most high-profile areas.