Sussex police to be quizzed over use of live facial recognition vans
It's after they were introduced across the county last month
Sussex Police will be quizzed over their use of live facial recognition vans following public concern.
Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne will be asking questions around public engagement and officer training as part of this month's performance and accountability meeting.
The vans were brought into use across the county last month.
They work by comparing a live camera feed of faces against a pre-determined watch list.
Passersby who don't match the watchlist will automatically have their faces blurred and deleted - meanwhile those who are flagged will have their identity confirmed by an officer before further action is taken.
They're next being deployed in Worthing on the 19th of December and Bognor on the 22nd.
Detective Chief Superintendent Carwyn Hughes, Business Lead for live facial recognition for Surrey Police and Sussex Police, said:
“We appreciate that some people may have concerns about the technology, but I would like to reassure that it has been extensively tested by the National Physical Laboratory and has already been successfully used by police forces across the country over the last few years.
“We have been meticulously planning the rollout of the vans to ensure our use is appropriate, proportionate and that we are operating with transparency.
"We will only be deploying to specific locations based on crime data, hotspots and potentially as part of a wider operation.
“It is our responsibility to use every tactic and innovation available to us to keep the public safe, deter criminality, protect people from harm and locate the most serious of offenders - and the live facial recognition vans will help us to do exactly that.”