Live facial recognition vans set to hit Hampshire and Isle of Wight streets next week
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary are launching two new vans in the hopes to target criminals
Live facial recognition vans are set to hit the streets of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight next week in the hopes to target criminals.
Two new and fully-equipped vans will span across the two counties, with the aim to support policing teams as they tackle crime.
The first deployment will take place in Southampton on Thursday 18th December, as part of the city centre's Operation Predict patrols, tackling shop-lifting and anti-social behaviour.
Assistant Chief Constable for the Joint Operations Unit, Robert France, said: “We are very excited to get these vans out into our communities where they can really make a difference when it comes to fighting crime.
“We have seen how successful the use of this technology has been for other forces across the country when it comes to arresting outstanding suspects, so we cannot wait to get them deployed and supporting our officers on their patrols.
“It was clear from our pilot in September last year, just what an effective tool it can be for our teams, not just when it comes to tracking down high priority suspects but also to help reduce crime in the area more generally.
“This sort of precision policing that sees the latest technology working in the background targeting those most wanted criminals, allows our officers to focus more on responding to emergencies, spending time patrolling and investigating crime.
“We’re also excited to see how it can support us helping the most vulnerable within our communities too, especially when it comes to high-risk missing people, when time really is of essence.”
Facial recognition can scan crowds to identify suspects, with police saying it can be done at a rate and level of accuracy that can't be replicated by officers on the ground.
Alerts are verified by the specialist trained operator and then assigned to officers on the ground to assess the information and consider the next steps.
The launch follows a successful pilot last year.
As with the pilot, deployments will routinely be publicised seven days in advance.
The vans will be clearly marked, with posters and leaflets being handed out in the area on the 18th December at the launch, notifying people of the operation and how it works.
The officers working with the vans will also be able to answer questions from those in the area and highlight how effective this tool can be in targeting those most wanted for crimes.
Police say any biometric templates that don't cause an alert are automatically deleted within seconds.
A watchlist is created for each deployment to ensure that each operation targets high-risk and high-crimes affecting the community and any wanted offenders.
ACC France added: “We know that some people are concerned about misidentification, particularly in relation to those from ethnic minority backgrounds and women.
"This is a really important issue and the technology has been significantly upgraded and undergone stringent independent testing to address the issues which were identified in early versions of the software as far back as 2019.
"I am confident that we will see extremely low levels of misidentification and we will be monitoring this closely.
“We do understand the concerns and are committed to ensuring ongoing and open dialogue with communities and individuals across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
"Our teams will always be happy to speak to anyone during the deployments to discuss how it all works and explain the strict parameters within which we must operate.
“It is completely right that the use of this technology is properly scrutinised to make sure it is always used in the correct and proportionate way and our deployments will be routinely reviewed by senior officers to ensure complete compliance at all times.
“I’m pleased to say that most people we have spoken to are very supportive of our use of this technology and are excited to see how it can help make their communities safer.
“I believe it is vitally important that as a police force, we equip our officers with the very best tools available to them to help take criminals off the streets, get justice for victims and ultimately, keep people safer.”
The technology creates a biometric facial template from faces seen on the live camera feed and compares them against the biometric template of images on the watchlist.
Police say watchlist images and their biometric templates will routinely be deleted within 24 hours after each day of the deployment and CCTV footage is deleted within 31 days, the same as standard public cameras.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Donna Jones, said: “This technology is ground-breaking.
"It's helping lead to the faster detention of suspects which is freeing up police time to fight crime, patrol our streets and respond to emergencies.
“This is a forward-thinking approach for modern policing and is another vital step in further protecting our communities.”
Police forces say they have already seen success with their own live facial recognition deployments, with hundreds of arrests for offences including rape, domestic abuse, knife crime, robbery and of sex offenders for breaching their conditions.
Figures from the Home Office confirmed that the Metropolitan Police have used the technology to make 1,300 arrests over the last two years and found more than 100 registered sex offenders breaching their licence conditions.