UK’s Hampshire Police Trials Facial Recognition to Track Criminals

Hampshire police in the United Kingdom is all set to deploy facial recognition systems in four cities: Portsmouth, Southampton, Basingstoke, and Winchester. It will be deployed from 10-12 September. This trial or deployment aims to assist the police in identifying suspected individuals who have committed serious crimes. It will also enable the system to save live video footage contrast images of pedestrians and lead a match of their faces against the list of an individual who are wanted for serious crimes. Not only this, if the match has been detected, the police will remove the other database to take necessary actions. However, the trial has the same facial recognition technology process which the rest of the police forces do in the UK.

For instance, Essex and North Wales are already pioneering this technology in finding suspects in public events. The ultimate aim of such eases the investigation techniques of criminals, capitalizing systems to form instantaneous links between bad guys and police. Also, images that are not subsequently matched are removed according to the police to keep up and cope with the privacy concerns. Not only this but the officer’s presence will also be mandatory at the trial locations to respond to public questions and resolve concerns that relate to privacy and data protection. 

Managing Crime Prevention with Privacy Concerns 

Police are hugely optimistic because, according to them, this technology will prove to be the ultimate game to improve public security and crime-solving capabilities without creating any controversy. Civil Liberties Groups have shown concern for face recognition, which centres on privacy concerns, racial bias, and lack of a strong legal framework against the practice.

This group further argues that usage of facial recognition systems can weaken individual freedoms and its engagement should be closely checked for protection from any misuse. In addition to all the concerns mentioned above, most police forces in the UK were taking facial recognition systems as one of the basic tools of modern policing. This system will help a lot in quickly identifying suspects and people regarding court orders while making it reliable for safeguarding against crime and public security. 

There is endless debate over and over regarding how to seek a balance in the use of this system while ensuring the protection of the rights of the people. However, consensus has yet to be reached on how to balance its use with the protection of citizens’ rights. The results of this three-day test in Hampshire will provide critical insight into the technology’s functionality. It might also constitute another factor to consider in forthcoming discussions on its legal and ethical use in law enforcement.