Police launch live facial recognition vans across Sussex and Surrey

The Home Office-funded vehicles use real-time facial recognition technology to compare faces captured on camera with a pre-determined watchlist, which includes suspects wanted for serious crimes such as domestic abuse and sexual offences.

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said the technology will target those causing the most harm in communities.

She said: “We have two live facial recognition vans deployed across Surrey and Sussex Police forces and the idea of these is that the police will look for the most prolific offenders, the people causing the highest harm in our communities.

"So whether that’s prolific shoplifters, domestic abusers or serious sexual offenders, those type of offenders will be on a watch list. If they come past the van, the van will spot them, an alert will go off and officers will be deployed.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Carwyn Hughes, Head of Forensics for Surrey and Sussex Police, said the force has worked to balance public safety with privacy rights.

He said: “In policing we have responsibilities under human rights and it’s our job to get the balance between catching people and respecting rights to privacy. When we deploy this technology, we will see the faces of everybody in the street, but we are only looking for those people who are wanted for crimes, suspected of crimes or subjects of some form of court order.

“If you’re not on that watch list, the technology will blur your face so we won’t even see you, and your data will be deleted with immediate effect. There’s no data transfer back to our main systems.

"This is a standalone system operating in the van. Because there’s no data retention of the general public and our focus is purely on the people on the watch lists, that’s how we’ve achieved the balance between data privacy and our job to catch criminals.”

Chief Inspector Jim Loader from Sussex Police said the technology is already used elsewhere in the country and will help officers work more effectively.

Chief Inspector Jim Loader added: “This is not new technology nationally. Other forces across the country have been deploying live facial recognition for a little while and it’s now coming to Sussex.

"This is a new and exciting piece of technology for our officers that’s going to give us the opportunity to understand more swiftly, more efficiently and more effectively who the people are that are walking down our streets and causing our communities harm.”

The vans will be clearly marked when deployed, with locations publicised on police websites in advance. Sussex Police will first deploy the technology in Crawley on November 13.

According to both forces, images of anyone not on a watchlist will be immediately deleted to protect privacy.

Each deployment will have its own watchlist created for that operation, focusing on individuals wanted for serious offences or subject to court orders.

Police say the initiative aims to use technology responsibly and proportionately to protect the public, deter criminality and locate offenders.