Live facial recognition cameras rolled out in town

Facial recognition cameras have been pioneered by The Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police

Police vans carrying live facial recognition (LFR) cameras have been deployed in a town centre.

Bedfordshire Police confirmed the roll out of the technology in Bedford following a Home Office announcement last month.

The force said the technology would give officers an "unmatched advantage" in their bid to locate and apprehend offenders who had evaded the police or the courts.

LFR strategic lead superintendent Ian Taylor said: "We know that the community still 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."

He added: "While this capability is new to Bedfordshire, it has been used across policing and security services for a number of years."

John Tizard said he would ensure that LFR deployments were subject to scrutiny by an ethics panel which will assess compliance - and the community impact

The police and crime commissioner (PCC) for Bedfordshire, John Tizard, said: "I am pleased that Bedfordshire Police has taken delivery of two specialist Live Facial Recognition vans as part of a Home Office rollout of ten LFR vans across the country, equipping police officers with targeted, cutting-edge technology to catch high-harm criminals."

The PCC has set out a Memorandum of Understanding with Bedfordshire Police, establishing the principles and governance for the ethical, legal, and proportionate use of LFR technology.

LFR works by comparing a live camera feed with biometric templates of images from a pre-established watchlist.

The watchlists feature police images of persons of interest such as those wanted by the police or courts as well as those subject to bail conditions or specific court orders.

If a match is found, officers are notified via secure devices to review it and ascertain whether it is a true match.

Officers will then engage with the individual to conduct further assessments to confirm their identification before taking appropriate action.

The force will also deploy LFR as part of operations to safeguard vulnerable individuals, such as locating high-risk missing people, victims of crime or people identified as potentially having crucial information relating to a serious crime investigation.

Welcoming the initiative, the Conservative Mayor of Bedford, Tom Wootton, said: "I know that this technology was a huge success when it was trialled at the River Festival, with no false alerts recorded."