Facial recognition cameras used in city centre

A police force has begun using facial recognition technology to detect suspects on the street.

Officers from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary having been using live facial recognition (LFR) to detect suspects, offenders breaching court orders and missing people.

The technology has been criticised by some civil liberty groups but the force said people's images would be deleted within a minute if they were not on that list.

Supt Alex Charge said: "We're here for a legitimate means to catch criminals, it's no surprises. Ultimately, this is a well marked up van. It's not a sneaky, covert bit of kit."

LFR identifies people by taking measurements of facial features, including the distance between the eyes and the length of the jawline, and has been deployed by some police forces for eight years.

Supt Charge said: "It's something to prevent and detect crime but also to deter criminality.

"I'd be keen that we used it in places like Shirley High Street, where we've had problems with anti-social behaviour and shoplifting."

In the summer, businesses in the area described how they were being "terrorised" by anti-social behaviour from youths.

Speaking during an operation in Southampton city centre, Supt Charge said: "It is just that piece of equipment that provides that visible reassurance.

"It's a really efficient and effective way of catching criminals.

"A local bobby walking around who might know people who come and commit crime here, but it might be that there's people on the watch list who have committed crime in other parts of Hampshire and they come here and we manage to catch them just because of the live facial recognition technology."

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said it would deploy its two vans across the two counties, announcing locations a week in advance.

In August, the government said the technology had been used in London to make 580 arrests in 12 months, including 52 registered sex offenders who breached their conditions.

The Home Office has announced funding for 10 more LFR vans, including for police in Hampshire and the Thames Valley jointly.