CCTV to find missing people

WEST Yorkshire Police is considering a ‘regional CCTV system’ to help trace vulnerable missing people more effectively, it has been revealed.

And if found viable and implemented, it could be expanded to include state-of-the-art technology including facial recognition to locate missing people even quicker.

Under the current system all five local authorities and transport operator Metro use separate CCTV systems but often liaise together when a person goes missing.

Now, West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson has approved Home Office funding for a £106,000 feasibility study to look at a regional ‘interoperability CCTV’ system.

The move comes as missing people, especially those high risk such as dementia sufferers and children in care, remain a West Yorkshire Police force priority.

Latest figures show a person is reported missing to police every five minutes and six seconds.

A report says: “A bid was put into the Home Office Innovation fund by West Yorkshire to look at co-ordinated public service CCTV capacity across West Yorkshire offering interoperability between the five local authorities and Metro with the further potential for integrated technology including facial recognition aimed at protecting vulnerable missing persons.”

The study will be carried out by the Police ICT Company and funded by the Home Office Innovation Fund with the balance from the Community Safety Partnership.