Devon and Cornwall Police will be deploying their live facial recognition van to Exmouth on Friday 28th August. This is only the second time the unit has been used for this purpose anywhere in the force area.
Commenting on their Facebook page, Exmouth Neighbourhood Police team said
Something unusual is coming to Exmouth on Friday 28th August. And its not rain or other atmospheric changes! (though that is entirely possible as its bank holiday weekend)
In our quest to try and keep our residents and businesses safe, we are going to use a piece of kit that has NEVER BEFORE been deployed in Devon and only once in the whole force area.
Live facial recognition.
Straight away, I hear the cogs of fury in certain quarters of our community and we fully get that. It is a topic that causes apprehension. I mean no one wants to live in a pol!ce state do they, least of all me by the way! - unlike this app which wont let me write police and state together because its inappropriate apparently.
How does this “secret spy tech infringement on your civil liberties” thing work then?
Well. It’s none of the above.
A big white van with blue and yellow tape all over it gets parked up and has uniform police officers from the Exmouth Neighbourhood Policing Team outside it.
The kit is set up to specifically look for a predetermined group of wanted people, those that like to steal things and those that present a risk to vulnerable people in our community.
If it detects them, the officers will engage the individual for a chat.
This is not the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings. It is not all seeing. It is not fussed if you are enjoying a coffee or popping out for some milk or a birthday card for your gran (and not a wanted criminal!).
It is certainly not what is often portrayed in the media. We have no interest in storing your face, as nice as it may be. The reality is that most people will probably have unknowingly been exposed to this technology for some time in retail environments anyway.
This is a great opportunity to try this out and we are chuffed that we managed to get it to little old Exmouth first.
The serious bit. This not some slap dash thing we just chose to do. We have been looking to do it for a couple of months and a lot of consideration and effort goes into getting its deployment authorised at a very high level.
I know that the comments section will immediately get filled with the good, the bad and ugly. I have chosen not to turn it off because who doesn’t like a bit of free speech right?! However, rather than have a rant, why not come down and see us in town, ask a few questions and support the local economy whilst you are there. Bring your kids, meet the team, get a sticker.
The following link will take you to the police website and explain more
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