As part of our ongoing commitment to remove offenders from our communities, we will be carrying out a three day operation next week using live facial recognition (LFR) technology alongside traditional policing tactics.

This will be the first time this has been used in Hampshire.

The vans will be in Portsmouth, Southampton, Basingstoke and Winchester on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week. Areas where it is being used will be clearly marked with signage and officers will be on hand to speak to members of the public and answer any questions.

Images of people we want to speak to are added to a bespoke ‘watch list’ that is unique to the operation. 

The technology uses live video footage of crowds passing a camera and compares the image to the list.

Any image that does not cause an alert is automatically and immediately deleted. No personal data is stored.

Any alerts are verified by the operator and a police officer will conduct enquiries with anyone who is matched. The officer will decide what action needs to be taken, in the same way that any other policing operation is conducted.

This pilot is part of our commitment to use everything at our disposal to keep the public safe and bring offenders to justice.

The Live Facial Recognition vans will be in Portsmouth on Tuesday 10 September, Southampton on Wednesday 11 September and Basingstoke and Winchester on Thursday 12 September.

Visit our dedicated web page for more information about how the technology works and how we will use it.