Facial recognition vans to be deployed by police

Facial recognition cameras being rolled out in Nottinghamshire will come with strict controls, police have said.

Marked vans will be deployed in public places and will compare those walking past with a "watchlist" of individuals either wanted for crimes or subject to banning orders or reported missing.

Any matches made by the system will be verified by officers on the ground and all scans deleted within seconds, the force said.

Nottinghamshire Police insisted the technology would be used "fairly and proportionately" and would not mean fewer officers being available.

The technology has been used by other forces, Nottinghamshire Police said, and had proved a valuable tool.

Det Supt Will Henley, who is leading the project, said: "This new technology is not interested in tracking your movements.

"It is designed to identify those faces we have inputted into the system who are wanted for crimes or in need of safeguarding, such as locating missing people.

"The technology will always be used fairly and proportionately to the area it is deployed.

"This will not replace police officers."

Henley acknowledged the cameras might raise concerns, but emphasised no information from the cameras was stored and the software did not discriminate on the grounds of gender, age or race.

The marked van also works as a deterrent and will hopefully prevent further criminality from occurring when they are deployed across our neighbourhoods, he said.

The results of deployments will also be posted on the Nottinghamshire Police website.

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