Norfolk Police to introduce Live Facial Recognition

This year, Norfolk Police is introducing Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology to protect our communities and bring offenders to justice.

The equipment will be used in specially selected locations to help find people who pose a risk to the public, those who are wanted by police or the courts or individuals with court orders not to be in specific areas.

It works by comparing a live camera feed of faces against a pre-determined watchlist.  The watchlist is created with individuals who present the greatest harm and risk to the public such as suspects wanted for serious violence.  The system will alert officers to any faces which match someone on the watchlist. They will then review the alert, carry out further checks to determine if the person is a suspect and take appropriate action. All other faces scanned by the system which do not provide a match are deleted immediately and permanently.  The watchlist is deleted straight after the deployment.

The force will be using a marked van, provided by Bedfordshire Police, during their first deployment in Norwich later this year. The recognition zone will be clearly signposted whenever the technology is in use and officers will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

The use of the equipment will always be intelligence-led and only deployed where we know resources are needed the most and where is a clear policing purpose to do so. Our focus is to protect vulnerable people and tackle serious crime. 

As outlined in the recent police reform white paper, the government is proposing heavy investment into state-of-the-art police technology, funding 40 new LFR vans. This also includes £26m on development and delivery of a national facial recognition system and £11.6m on LFR capabilities and national coordination of these. This roll out of new technology will help us to catch more criminals and keep our communities safe.

As a force, we are committed to using LFR responsibly and ethically. Our deployments will comply with all necessary legal and regulatory standards.

Inspector Toby Gosden said: “Live Facial Recognition is an incredibly useful tool which can assist officers in keeping the public safe. We have seen great results in other forces across the country which I am confident we can replicate here in Norwich.

“We understand there may be some concerns around your privacy and freedoms which is why we are being open and honest about how it will be used and when.

“Officers will not be monitoring the local community and their daily business but instead, safeguarding the public by locating dangerous individuals and securing justice for victims of crime.”

You can find out more about LFR here: Live facial recognition | Norfolk Constabulary