Southend: Live facial recognition to be deployed in city
Main article content
We will using live facial recognition technology across Southend for four days this week.
The technology will be in place in the city from Thursday to Sunday.
It is in response to an incident of violence which took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, 15 September.
A total of four people have so far been arrested as part of our response to that incident.
A 32-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of affray has been released on bail whilst our enquiries continue.
Two men, aged 19 and 24, and a 17-year-old boy, were arrested yesterday on suspicion of GBH.
Detectives continue to question the 24-year-old and the 17-year-old. The 19-year-old will face no further action in relation to this matter.
As part of our ongoing response to that incident, the innovative technology will be used across the city on:
- Thursday 19 September
- Friday 20 September
- Saturday 21 September
- Sunday 22 September
Chief Inspector David Browning, Southend district commander, said:
“This investigation continues to progress at pace and I know the detective and staff team are specialists in their field.
“But I also know the public will naturally expect their police force to do all we can to ensure people intent on committing crime in our city are stopped and caught.
“Having this technology available to us is a significant asset; we are using it to identify and locate people who we want to speak to in connection with serious offences.
“And I want to be very clear that the overwhelming majority of people in our city have nothing to worry about – but violent criminals do.
“The people involved in serious incidents cannot expect to walk freely in our community and this technology allows us to keep our communities safe.”
Sign up to Dispatch today
We're offering more ways for our communities to stay up to date with our work across Essex.
Our e-newsletter, Dispatch, delivers news, information, and advice from Essex Police.
Dispatch is a ‘one stop shop’ for local police news – direct from the source.
Sign up is completely free and you can unsubscribe at any time.