Facial recognition to capture most wanted

POLICE INTRODUCE NEW CAMERAS BUT GROUPS RAISE CONCERNS

- By PATRICK EDRICH

MERSEYSIDE Police will track down a watchlist of wanted people by rolling out facial recognition technology.

The force will deploy the new Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology in Liverpool city centre on Monday, December 15 as part of its "commitment to keeping our communities safe and bringing offenders to justice."

The technology works by comparing faces captured on a live camera feed against a secure watchlist of people wanted for serious offences, subject to court orders or who pose a risk to the public or to themselves. When the system identifies a possible match, a police officer will compare the image on screen with the person in view and decide whether to speak to them.

The force said this decision will always be made by an officer, not the technology. A spokesperson added: "If you are not on a watchlist we will never store your biometric data from passing through the LFR zone of recognition. It is immediately and automatically deleted, ensuring privacy is protected."