UK police trialing facial recognition tech that can ID individuals in seconds

Leicestershire Police will be the first force in the UK to conduct a six month trial of new facial recognition technology that promises to help identify individuals in just a few seconds.

Called NeoFace, the system can compare any digital image (like CCTV or footage from body-worn cameras) with photos held on a police database – in this case, Leicestershire’s database containing information about more than 90,000 people. By quickly comparing measurements of key facial features it can speed up the computerized but otherwise time-consuming process of finding a match, which can sometimes take “hours”, Leicestershire Police said.

The force said it has already been considering it for evaluation for a couple of months already and that two hundred suspects have already been through the system. However, there is a slight drawback, the results can’t be used as evidence in court, although they’re useful to spur new lines of enquiry, the police said.

➤ New ‘face recognition’ technology helps to crack crime [Leicestershire Police]

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