British Transport Police to trial live facial recognition on railway stations

Live facial recognition (LFR) is coming to the UK’s train stations.

The British Transport Police (BTP) has announced a six-month pilot of the technology at key transport hubs in London. The facial recognition cameras are expected to be deployed in the coming weeks and will target crime hotspots where data has shown “high harm” offenders are likely to pass through.

“As the police force responsible for protecting the railways in England, Scotland and Wales, we take our commitment to keeping the travelling public safe incredibly seriously,” Chief Superintendent Chris Casey says in an announcement.

The move follows a mass stabbing attack on a train to London, resulting in eleven people being hospitalized with injuries. The incident, involving a British man, took place in Cambridgeshire on November 1st.

The British Transport Police, however, says that the LFR deployment is not related to the incident but a result of prior research and planning. Vans equipped with facial recognition cameras have been in use by London’s Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police. Last month, seven other police forces adopted the surveillance program.

“We’ve seen great results from our policing partners when deploying LFR, and we’re confident that our use of the technology will enable us to achieve similar results,” adds Casey.

Deploying the technology represents a unique challenge, as the UK records three million train journeys a day. Cameras will be set up temporarily on station concourses, capturing live footage of passers-by and comparing their faces with a pre-determined watchlist of suspects and offenders. Faces that are not matched are automatically deleted.

The British Transport Police has pledged to deploy LFR “ethically and in line with privacy standards.” Signage and QR codes will be available for information and feedback.

“When the pilot is complete, we’ll conduct a full assessment to review outcomes, identify lessons learned, and inform future planning,” says Casey.

Crime on the rail system has historically been low, amounting to 27 crimes for every million passenger journeys, according to Transport Minister Heidi Alexander. Despite these figures, the stabbing attack has inspired Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp to call for more use of LFR, as one of several tools that can reduce knife crime.

Article Topics

biometric matching  |  biometrics  |  British Transport Police  |  facial recognition  |  live facial recognition  |  real-time biometrics  |  UK