Facial recognition vans rolled out by Hampshire police

The vans are part of an expanded pilot programme funded by the Home Office and will be used by seven forces across the UK, including Hampshire Constabulary.

Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and Bedfordshire will also take part.

The technology uses cameras mounted on vans to scan faces in public areas and match them against police watchlists.

READ MORE: Hampshire police to get live facial recognition vans to target serious offenders

A camera on top of a Live Facial Recognition (LFR) van during a demonstration of facial recognition technology. (Image: Andrew Matthews)

These watchlists include wanted individuals and those under court orders, such as sex offenders.

Chief Inspector Andy Hill of Surrey Police said: "It’s a positive step in terms of using the latest technology available to us, and it’s about pursuing criminals, it’s about investigating crime thoroughly and also reassuring the public that we are out and about and we are visible and we’re doing our job."

The vans will alert officers if a person of interest is identified, allowing them to verify the match and take appropriate action.

Surrey Police confirmed that a live facial recognition van was deployed in Redhill on November 13.

The vans have already been in use by the Metropolitan Police, South Wales Police, and Essex Police, but wider use has sparked debate.

Civil liberties and anti-racism groups have raised concerns about the technology’s accuracy and potential for racial bias.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said the technology was "limited" when used at the 2016 and 2017 Notting Hill Carnival, but has since made "considerable progress."

Chief Inspector Hill said he was confident in the improved accuracy of the software.

READ MORE: Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner reacts to plans to scrap role

Signage will be displayed to inform the public of the cameras. (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

He said: "There’s been a lot of development with the software, a lot of national testing to give us confidence in the software and, at the last Notting Hill Carnival this year, their positive alerts were much higher."

Police have said that images not flagged as matches are deleted in less than a second.

Chief Inspector Hill said: "We want to be as open and transparent about our deployments, we publish them on our website at least seven days in advance, and we’ll publish the results afterwards as well."

He confirmed that signage will be placed around the deployment area to inform the public.