Live Facial Recognition in Hounslow leads to arrests

The deployment of Live Facial Recognition in Hounslow has resulted in seven arrests.

Those arrested include a registered sex offender who had breached a sexual harm prevention order and another man was arrested for breaching the terms of a non-molestation order and harassment.

A man was arrested for two counts of common assault and recall to prison for robbery, another was arrested for common assault and another who was wanted for going equipped to steal.

Lindsey Chiswick, director of intelligence for the Met and national lead for facial recognition, said: “Live Facial Recognition technology is making communities in London safer by helping officers identify violent and predatory offenders.

“The technology is alerting police to a person who they might want speak with and does not automatically mean a conversation or arrest, that is for officers at the deployment to decide. This is no different to policing which happens every day, but is just using the assistance of effective and accurate technology.

“For the overwhelming majority of people who are not on a bespoke wanted list, the biometric image generated by the technology will be evaluated and automatically deleted within a second."