Facial Recognition leads to six arrests

The latest deployment of Bedfordshire Police’s Live Facial Recognition (LFR) has generated nine alerts, resulting in six wanted people being arrested and three individuals who are managed offenders being spoken to.

The team operated from George Street, Luton on Wednesday (8 April). Those arrested were wanted on a variety of charges ranging from criminal damage and causing actual bodily harm to possession of an offensive weapon and handling stolen goods.

LFR Strategic Lead, Chief Superintendent Ian Taylor, said: “This a fantastic result for the team and demonstrates exactly why we wanted to introduce live facial recognition technology to Bedfordshire. 

“The technology has enabled us to identify those who are outstanding as wanted for criminal offences, and bring them into the criminal justice system in a timely manner supporting our commitment to be tough on crime, and make Bedfordshire a safer place for all communities.”

Live Facial Recognition (LFR) compares a live camera feed of faces against a predetermined watchlist in real-time. It is used to locate persons of interest by generating an alert when a possible match is found.

Unique to each deployment, 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 to review the match and ascertain whether it is a true match.

It is operated under strict guidelines governing its ethical, legal, and proportionate use.

We continue to be a leader in the use of new technology to improve efficiency and ensure our communities are kept safe.

There is more information on how the force uses technology, including AI on our wesbite.