Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police to Deploy Live Facial Recognition Vans in Crime-Fighting Push

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary will become one of just seven police forces nationwide to roll out live facial recognition (LFR) vans as part of a new national programme to target outstanding suspects and reduce crime.

The move follows a successful pilot last September in Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester and Basingstoke, during which officers used the technology to identify and arrest seven wanted individuals over a three-day period.

The vans, expected to be operational later this year, will allow trained officers to scan crowds in real time, comparing faces against a watchlist of people sought for high-risk offences or as part of urgent missing persons searches. The system creates a biometric facial template from live video, automatically deleting any data that does not result in a match. Watchlist images and templates are erased within 24 hours after each day’s deployment.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tim Rowlandson, the force’s lead for the project, said:

“We are really excited to have this technology here in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to help us target outstanding suspects and reduce crime. We know from the success of our pilot that giving officers this additional tactic not only helps to quickly identify suspects, it also frees up their time to focus on responding to emergencies, spending time patrolling within their communities and investigating crime.”

According to police, areas where LFR vans are operating will be clearly marked with signage, and officers will be on hand to answer public questions. All matches generated by the system will be manually checked by trained staff before any enforcement action is taken.

Forces elsewhere in the UK using LFR have reported hundreds of arrests for serious offences, including rape, domestic abuse, robbery and knife crime. Hampshire Police say they will engage with local communities ahead of the first deployments to explain the benefits and address privacy concerns.

More information on the force’s use of live facial recognition can be found via the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary website.