Two arrests after police use facial recognition

Two people have been arrested after a police force deployed live facial recognition technology for the first time.

Cambridgeshire Police said it scanned 34,000 faces, looking for people on its watch list, when it used the cameras in Peterborough city centre on Saturday.

Both arrests were for failing to appear at court, with one man accused of theft from a person and the other alleged to have stolen from a shop.

Insp Sam Tucker described it as "a successful day", with officers also able to help with other incidents, including a medical emergency.

"Our presence in such a busy area of the city received a really positive response - from the public, who were interested in how the technology worked, and Queensgate security and a local shop, which noticed a reduction in crime," he added.

The system works by scanning faces from a live camera feed and comparing them in real time with a police watch list, which includes individuals with outstanding arrest warrants and high-risk offenders.

The technology maps key facial features into a biometric template to identify potential matches.

Any match is then reviewed by an officer, and all images and biometric data are deleted - either immediately or within 24 hours - if no further action is required.

Altogether, seven people were identified during the six-hour deployment in Long Causeway and Bridge Street.

The others were two registered sex offenders, who were found to be complying with conditions, a woman who was breaching a criminal behaviour order and will be voluntarily interviewed and two further identifications which required no further action, said Cambridgeshire Police.

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