UK to deploy national AI facial recognition
The UK government plans to form a new National Police Service and deploy it alongside a nationwide facial recognition system.
This is according to a police reform white paper published by the Home Office on Monday 26 January, which encompasses major structural changes for national and local policing aimed at improving efficiency and adopting new technologies.
Building on the successful rollout of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) cameras across specific local areas, the Home Office plans to invest more than £26 million to develop a national facial recognition system.
It will also invest £11.6 million to improve the capabilities of its LFR technology and nationally coordinate the deployment of LFR vans and cameras.
40 new LFR vans will be commissioned to support the police in town centres and high crime hot spots across the country, the Home Office said.
LFR technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) to compare a live camera feed of faces against a predetermined watchlist in real time. It is used to locate and identify people who are of interest by generating an alert when a match is found.
LFR can also be used retrospectively to examine recorded camera feeds and log or compare facial data against a predetermined database.
The Home Office said that as part of the rollout of LFR to its new National Police Service, it would create a new legal framework for the use of this technology, as well as a public register of the AI used by police forces.
Dreams of a Panopticon
Speaking with former Prime Minister Tony Blair at a recent event hosted by the Tony Blair Instutute for Global Change, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood praised the benefits of AI in policing and said she had previously dreamed of ushering in a ‘Panopticon’ of surveillance.
The Panopticon is a circular prison proposed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham that comprises a central guard tower from which a guard can observe all prisoners at any time.
“When I was in justice, my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times,” Mahmood said to Blair.
“Similarly, in the world of policing, in particular, we’ve already been rolling out live facial recognition technology, but I think there’s big space here for being able to harness the power of AI and tech to get ahead of the criminals, frankly, which is what we’re trying to do.”
In the introduction to the new police reform white paper, Mahmood did not go so far as to advocate for constant surveillance, but did stress that the need for a new National Police Service and the adoption of technology including AI and LFR cameras.
“We will establish a National Police Service. In time, this will handle all national policing responsibilities, creating a world-class force focused on counter-terror, serious and organised crime, and fraud,” Mahmood said.
“This White Paper also sets out further modernisation of policing. We will ensure that every force is adopting the latest technology to make policing both more effective and efficient.”
“Some forces are already adopting new technology to great effect, such as Live Facial Recognition. But others lag behind, using analogue methods to fight crime in this digital age,” she said.
