Harlow: Three arrests using live facial recognition

Three people have been arrested following the use of the forces Live Facial Recognition (LFR) cameras in Harlow this weekend.

One suspect was arrested on suspicion of harassment, and had been wanted by police since May.

Another was wanted on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm, and a third person was wanted on suspicion of common assault.

Another person was positively identified in connection with a common assault and agreed to attend a police station for interview voluntarily.

The previous deployments saw the cameras on Southend seafront and High Street on 25 August and 26 August, over the bank holiday weekend. There were five positive alerts and two people were arrested – one for harassment and one for sexual assault.

During the first deployment at the Clacton Airshow (22 and 23 August) there were five positive alerts leading to three arrests.

We use the technology to find people wanted for serious offences, to help enforce orders against those whose faces are put on a ‘watch list’ and to protect those who are vulnerable and at risk of harm.

If your face is not on the watch list, the technology deletes your image in a fraction of a second. It’s not retained and it’s not stored on a database.

The technology is so clever, it can recognise someone’s face even if it is partially covered.

Detective Superintendent Gary Biddle said:

“This was another successful deployment where we’ve been able to bring suspects into custody and progress our investigations.
“We were particularly happy to show members of the public how the technology works and answer the questions they had, and dozens of people wanted to know more when we visited Harlow on Saturday.
“We’ve now had eight arrests form our three deployments. We’ve seen Live Facial Recognition technology can be an effective tool in finding people we want to speak to.
“This technology is an investment in our communities.
“It’s an effective way of finding people we want to speak to and keeping the public safe.
“This technology can be a more efficient use of resources than having officers undertaking various time-consuming enquiries to locate them.
“It means those officers are able to do other work to protect and help the public, and further investigations.
“Cutting edge technology is playing an important role in protecting the public, responding to and investigating crimes, and getting justice for victims.
“Criminals cannot think that they can walk around our communities without being caught.”

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