Not everyone, it seems, got the memo as police began detaining and questioning people identified during Cambridgeshire’s first-ever live facial recognition operation in Peterborough city centre.
Officers were deployed across key areas of the city on Saturday as part of an inaugural “day of action” using the controversial but increasingly widespread technology, which police had promoted extensively in the days leading up to the operation.
CambsNews watched as several passers-by were taken aside by officers in Long Causeway close to the turning into Westgate after being flagged by facial recognition units or suspected of criminality.
Two police vans equipped with Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology were stationed in the city centre throughout the operation.
Earlier in the day, Sgt Will Gilbert, Neighbourhood Policing Team Sergeant for Central Peterborough, explained how the technology was being used.
“Yes, like you mentioned, we’re here today in the city centre with live facial recognition cameras,” he said.
“We’re here to identify anyone who may be wanted on a warrant or registered sex offenders.
“We can collect the data and put that into the cameras, which use biometrics to identify people’s faces. We then engage with that person to confirm whether it is the individual the camera has identified, and then we act on that information. That could mean an arrest or gathering intelligence.”
Sgt Gilbert said the technology gave officers another way of identifying people who may otherwise go unnoticed during routine patrols.
“It helps us deal with outstanding suspects and similar matters,” he said.
“It’s really positive for the community to see police out and about, and it helps build rapport with people who may think the police don’t do much around here. That’s why we’re out here today in force.”
The operation had generated at least one alert early in the deployment.
“Yes, we’ve actually already had one alert,” Sgt Gilbert added.
“We went and engaged with that person. We didn’t make an arrest on this occasion because we didn’t need to, but we will be submitting some intelligence on that individual.
“Again, it’s helped us identify someone we may not usually have picked up on through normal patrols.”
Cambridgeshire Police confirmed the Peterborough deployment marked the first use of live facial recognition technology in the county.
The system compares faces captured on live camera feeds against a police watchlist containing wanted suspects, offenders with outstanding court warrants and high-risk individuals subject to notification requirements.
Assistant Chief Constable John Massey described LFR as “another tool at our disposal in our drive to reduce crime and create a safer county”.
He added: “While this capability is new to Cambridgeshire, it has been used across policing and security services for some time and has improved greatly.”
Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston said the technology presented “a remarkable opportunity in preventing and fighting crime”.
Despite concerns raised nationally over privacy and civil liberties, officers in Peterborough spent much of the day speaking with members of the public and explaining how the technology works.
Signs placed around the operation included QR codes linking residents to further information about the deployment and how biometric data is handled.
Police say images that do not trigger an alert are deleted automatically and cannot be retrieved.
Sgt Gilbert confirmed more operations are already planned.
“Absolutely,” he said. “It’s the first one in the county today, but we already have more planned.”
