Ipswich residents have been left divided over the return of live facial recognition technology to the town, with some welcoming its potential to catch wanted criminals and others raising concerns about privacy and accuracy.
Suffolk Constabulary will deploy the technology across three Suffolk town centres in November, with Ipswich visited on Thursday, November 5, following operations in Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds earlier that week.
The system uses live camera feeds to compare people's faces against a watchlist of individuals police are seeking to locate. The force says images of anybody who does not appear on the list are automatically deleted.
The plans have prompted a mixed reaction from local people.
David Rowe backed the move, saying: “Great idea, get wanted criminals back in jail.”
Nicola Sadler similarly said: “Nothing to hide - nothing to fear,” while Michael Hutton added: “Can’t see the problem, ring doorbells do the same.”
But others were more wary. Willy Rackham said: “Sounds like big brother is watching you,” while Andrew Castle warned the technology “is not 100% accurate” and could identify innocent people.
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One person commenting under a nickname claimed the technology would “be abused”.
Another questioned why police publicised deployments in advance, arguing wanted individuals could simply avoid the town centre while cameras were operating.
Sergeant Anthony Welford, of the County Partnership Prevention Hub, said: “Live Facial Recognition is an effective tool that helps us locate wanted individuals, safeguard vulnerable people and enhance public safety.”
He stressed anyone not being sought by police would have their image “automatically and immediately deleted”.
The force is borrowing a van and equipment from Bedfordshire Police for the three-day operation.
Suffolk police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore welcomed the deployments, saying facial recognition had “huge potential to bring criminals to justice and prevent crime”.
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