Live Facial Recognition coming to Lowestoft

Suffolk police is to use Live Facial Recognition technology for a second time this year to keep people safe and deter crime.

Following its use in Ipswich town centre in February, the force will now be using it in Lowestoft on Saturday 21 June at the ‘First Light’ festival in the town.

(Image-courtesy of Essex Police)

The force is well-acquainted to embracing innovative technology to protect the public from serious harm, as well as supporting high quality investigations. and putting victims first. This second use of Live Facial Recognition for a day provides another demonstration of that progress.

The force will be using two vans and equipment courtesy of Essex police. During the day on 21 June the technology will be used to locate people wanted in connection with investigations into serious offences.

ACC Eamonn Bridger said: “We had a very positive response from the public when we used this technology operationally for the first time in Ipswich in February. Understandably, there was a great deal of curiosity on the day as they wanted to learn and understand more about the technology. 

“People were invited to look inside the van and see the system in action and I am sure we will get a similar reaction this time round in Lowestoft and this expected interest is something we welcome.

“We will be able to show the public how the system operates and show how the data is deleted and faces are blurred in less than a second if they are not matched against the watchlist.

(Image-courtesy of Essex Police)

“It’s essential to say those attending the festival should feel reassured that we are only looking for those individuals who have committed serious offences.

“Strong engagement and public awareness around our use of technology to protect communities and bring offenders to justice, is vital to maintain that confidence and trust in policing, so while operationally there is value in using facial recognition technology, there is also a strong element of educating the public.”

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.

ACC Eamonn Bridger added: “As we said previously, it is vital people understand that we take your privacy very seriously and images of members of the public won’t 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.

“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.

“Once again, our thanks go to Essex police for their generosity in supporting us with the use of their equipment

Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore said: “I really welcome the use of this live facial recognition technology and pleased to see plans for it to be used in Lowestoft for the First Light Festival later this month.  It has huge potential to bring criminals to justice and to prevent crime, which I trust is welcomed by everyone.

“A recent trial in Ipswich, and trials elsewhere in the country, have had a very positive impact on reducing levels of crime and improving detection rates.  In fact, in just one day in Ipswich the technology scanned over 47,000 people which resulted in five arrests.

“I am grateful to Essex for their assistance.  Anything we can do to keep Suffolk safe by protecting homes and business has my full support.”

Live Facial Recognition trial in Ipswich secures arrests | Suffolk Constabulary