Facial Recognition Cameras to Debut in Peterborough City Centre
Police introduce new technology to identify wanted people and boost public safety
State-of-the-art facial recognition cameras will be used in Peterborough city centre for the first time this Saturday.
Police are bringing in Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology to help officers quickly spot individuals wanted for criminal offences or with outstanding arrest warrants.
The system works by comparing faces in a live camera feed against a police watchlist, flagging possible matches for officers to review.
Police say images flagged as a match are checked and then deleted after use, while other data is removed automatically.
“LFR supports policing by identifying wanted people, ensuring they are brought to justice swiftly." Assistant Chief Constable John Massey said.
“It is another tool at our disposal in our drive to reduce crime and create a safer county.
“While this capability is new to Cambridgeshire, it has been used across policing and security services for some time and has improved greatly, even outperforming its anticipated accuracy and success rate.
“We know the community will have a lot of questions about the use of advanced technology within policing and officers will be on hand to engage with the community and answer any queries they may have.”
The equipment, borrowed from Bedfordshire Police, aims to make the city safer and tackle crime swiftly.
Signs will mark the areas where the cameras are being used, with officers on hand to answer questions from the public.