Live Facial Recognition is coming to the streets of Devon for the first time this week. A clearly marked van will patrol the town centre of Exmouth on Friday, using a live camera feed to compare faces against a pre-determined watchlist of wanted people.
Exmouth's neighbourhood inspector, Mat Helm, says the public has nothing to fear. Strict safeguards are in place, and if you are not on the watchlist, you cannot be matched. The watchlist could include people wanted by police in connection with criminal investigations.
Helm said: "We have to tell it what it is looking for. So we've agreed a subset of people we will look for. The kit is set up to specifically look for a predetermined group of wanted people, those that like to steal things and those that present a risk to vulnerable people in our community. If it detects them, the officers will engage the individual for a chat."
Devon and Cornwall Police has only used LFR once before, at Boardmasters in Cornwall last month, though the technology has been active in other regions for five years. The force has taken its time adopting it due to concerns about how it might be perceived, misconceptions about who it targets, and making sure its use has been perfected.
Helm says it is like having a uniformed officer who knows all the law-breakers. "This is not the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings," he said in a Exmouth Police post. "It is not all seeing. It is not fussed if you are enjoying a coffee or popping out for some milk or a birthday card for your gran (and not a wanted criminal). We have no interest in storing your face. The reality is that most people will probably have unknowingly been exposed to this technology for some time in retail environments anyway."
The August Bank Holiday weekend will draw many visitors to the tourist town, its attractions and beaches, and the camera should be able to identify those who are not welcome.
Helm added: "For us it's about making our town safe and if normal members of the public feel safe then that's good. If people that have something to hide don't feel safe then so be it. The important thing is it doesn't matter if we don't catch anybody because we've advertised it and what we want is for our public spaces to be safe. If criminals see that and say 'I'm not going Exmouth because of LFR then brilliant."
The technology captures measurements of a person's facial features and compares them to known faces on the watchlist.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said: "We want to make the best use of technology and LFR provides officers with an additional tool to help locate wanted people more quickly, prevent crime and keep communities safe. People may have concerns about Live Facial Recognition technology, so we are committed to being open about where we are using it, when it is used and the safeguards that are in place to ensure it is used in a transparent and proportionate way. The human element is an important part of using LFR responsibly, so there will always be uniformed officers on the ground who will corroborate any possible matches before engaging with that person in an appropriate manner."
Police and Crime Commissioner Alision Hernandez said: "The police need to use every tool available to find wanted criminals and take them off our streets. The use of live facial recognition has been tried and tested elsewhere, and I am pleased to see our communities here in Devon and Cornwall benefiting from this technology."
Devon Police Deploy Facial Recognition Van in Exmouth