Police in Devon have used live facial recognition technology for the first time. The system scans faces in crowds from a live camera feed and checks them against a watchlist of wanted people. It was deployed in Exmouth town centre at the end of August, officers said.
Sgt Angela Galasso, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said the technology was probably "scanning far more faces than a police officer ever could", adding: "It's a tool. One of the many in our armour which help us to do our job."
Any people identified by the system still needed to be verified by humans, police said. Human rights group Liberty has called for legislation to clarify how police forces can use such systems.
Galasso said a camera van had been deployed in response to anti-social behaviour, violent incidents and shoplifting in the town. She said: "We've got technology on board which is running with a predetermined watchlist of people. There's about 8,000 on the list. The alert comes up, you're scanning the picture held on our system and the live picture. You're looking at that similarity scoring. If it falls within a certain point, we then ask our uniformed officers to engage with that person and a second verification happens."
The BBC spoke to shoppers on The Strand in Exmouth, where the cameras were used. "If you've done nothing wrong, then you shouldn't be afraid of it," said Denise Newman, from Budleigh Salterton. Paul Miller, from Exmouth, said he was "in favour of facial recognition with strict safeguards".
Police said images of people who were not of interest would be "automatically and permanently deleted within seconds" and the force would not retain the data. They added vans using the equipment would be "clearly signposted when deployed".
Liberty said it wanted a law in place with "safeguards which protect everybody". Policy and campaigns officer Charlie Whelton said: "What we've had until now is a regulatory 'Wild West' in which police forces up and down the country try to work it out on their own."
A Home Office spokesperson said LFR was a "crucial tool that helps the police locate dangerous and violent criminals, including sex offenders". They added: "The government intends to bring forward a new bespoke legal framework to ensure all police forces across the country can use facial recognition with greater confidence, and that their uses and limits are clear to the public."
The data showed there was one alert while the system was used in Exmouth but there no arrests.
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Devon Police Use Facial Recognition for First Time