Hertfordshire Constabulary to trial Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology

Hertfordshire Constabulary is to trial Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology in December as part of its commitment to keeping communities safe and tackling serious crime.

This innovative approach combines cutting-edge technology with strict safeguards to ensure fairness, transparency, and privacy.

LFR compares a human face captured by a camera against digital images uploaded to a secure database called the Watchlist. This process is fast, accurate, and designed to help identify individuals wanted for serious offences.

The Watchlist is manually populated for each deployment and includes individuals wanted by police or courts for serious offences such as violent or sexual crimes and those subject to court orders, including Registered Sex Offenders.

Each deployment has a new Watchlist tailored to that operation and there is no permanent or general database.

If no alert is generated, biometric data is automatically and immediately deleted and if an alert is generated, biometric data is deleted within 24 hours.  An officer always makes the final decision before engaging with any member of the public.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Mariner said: “We’re pleased to announce a trial of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology in Hertfordshire, with the first deployment scheduled for December.

“This initial trial will take place in a single location for one day, after which we will review its effectiveness before considering any further use.

“We understand that the community may have questions about the use of this technology in policing. Officers will be on hand during the deployment to engage with the public and answer any queries. LFR provides a powerful tool to identify and detain wanted individuals quickly, helping to keep Hertfordshire’s communities safe from crime and harm.

“While this is the first trial of the technology in Hertfordshire, LFR has been successfully used by policing and security services for several years. Introducing it now offers an additional layer of assurance, as the technology has significantly improved - exceeding expectations for accuracy and reliability.”

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, Police & Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, said: “I welcome the decision of Hertfordshire Constabulary to trial Live Facial Recognition technology as part of its work to catch criminals. It is good to see the constabulary embracing new technology to keep people safe.

“I understand that some in the community may have concerns. As Police & Crime Commissioner, my role is to scrutinise how the constabulary use the technology. I will be doing so at my webcast Accountability & Performance Meeting with the Chief Constable on 11 December as well as holding a community engagement and scrutiny meeting with the relevant local community once the deployment location has been published by the constabulary.

“Although this is the first time it will be used in Hertfordshire, this is tried and tested technology that has resulted in the arrest of wanted serious offenders when used by other police forces. The technology is used with significant safeguards and scrutiny.”

To maintain operational integrity, Hertfordshire Constabulary will publish the location and date of any LFR deployment seven days in advance in adherence with College of Policing guidelines and the force standard operating procedure.

You can find out more information about Live Facial Recognition (LFR), including answers to frequently asked questions, on the Hertfordshire Constabulary website.