Police catch suspect through facial technology

POLICE have used facial recognition technology to arrest a suspect for the first time.

The technology was used to track down a suspect during the Champions League final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff last Saturday.

South Wales Police identified the suspect using cameras that can match CCTV footage against images stored in a database, in a test of the technology.

“It was a local man unconnected to the Champions League,” a spokesman for South Wales Police said.

The force had a database of 500,000 custody images that it matched against images captured at the game.

If the months-long trial is successful the force hopes to extend its use of facial recognition technology.

The intelligent cameras, created by the security firm NEC, could be used to identify people known to the security services and help prevent terrorist attacks, experts said.

“If you could put CCTV footage or an image of a potential suspect that you can’t identify into a system that checks it against the database it would be worth its weight in gold,” said Chris Hobbs, a former special branch detective. If the technology is successful, Mr Hobbs said, it could be deployed across the country within a couple of years.

South Wales Police said it could also be used to track individuals following a disturbance or to monitor security at airports.

Alun Michael, South Wales commissioner for police and crime, said the technology would allow the force “to identify vulnerability, challenge perpetrators and reduce instances of offending within environments where the technology is deployed”.

However, there are fears that the technology could infringe privacy and be exploited by cyber criminals to steal information or tamper with evidence. “Not only could they be hacked to steal data or create a weapon, the data could also be corrupted,” said Emily Taylor, associate fellow and cyber policy expert at Chatham House.