Suffolk Constabulary to trial LFR technology

The trial will take place on Saturday (February 22) in Ipswich town centre and the force will be using two vans and equipment courtesy of Essex police.

During the day the technology will be used to locate people wanted in connection with investigations into serious offences.

Assistant Chief Constable Eamonn Bridger said: “This technology has been proven elsewhere to be an effective tactic for locating and arresting suspects that are wanted for serious offences.

“People in Ipswich on Saturday should feel reassured that we are only looking for those individuals who have committed serious offences.

“We are keen to raise public awareness around our use of technology to protect communities and bring offenders to justice so it is important that we provide insight around the trial of this equipment and tactics.”

The technology compares live camera feeds of faces against a predetermined database or ‘watch list’ of people of interest. Put simply, if you’re not on the ‘watch list’ your face cannot be matched.

The scanning of an image takes less than a second. The data/image of those not on the ‘watchlist’ is automatically and immediately deleted and not stored. When there is a positive match, appropriate action will be taken by officers on the ground to confirm ID and then assess what the next action is to be taken.

Mr Bridger stressed it was important to make clear that they take privacy very seriously and images of members of the public will not be stored.

“If you are in a location where LFR is being deployed and you are not one of the specific people we’re trying to locate, your image will be immediately and automatically deleted,” he said.

“It’s an effective way of finding people we want to speak to and keeping the public safe. This technology can save time and effort of our officers, leaving them able to do other work to protect and help the public.

“I’d also like to thank Essex police for supporting the work which will help inform future decision making around policing in Suffolk.”

Suffolk police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore said: “I really welcome this live facial recognition trial. This technology has huge potential to bring criminals to justice and to prevent crime, which I trust is welcomed by everyone.

“Trials elsewhere in the country, such as in Croydon, have had a very positive impact on reducing levels of crime and improving detection rates.

“I look forward to seeing the results when the trial is completed – anything we can do to keep Suffolk safe by protecting homes and business has my full support.”

The force has already embraced innovative technology to protect the public from serious harm, as well as supporting high quality investigations, and putting victims first, and it says the use of live facial recognition is “another step in that progress”.