Western Australia police trial facial recognition on 1.38m faces
Five-month deployment of surveillance vans led to 122 arrests and nine false alerts, police said.
At a glance
- Facial recognition trial scanned 1,380,882 faces over five months
- 122 arrests made during the deployment across 43 locations
- Nine false alerts generated by the technology
- 146 registered sex offenders engaged with by officers
Police in Western Australia completed a five-month trial of real-time facial recognition technology that scanned more than 1.38 million faces across 43 locations. The trial involved 100 deployments of surveillance vans in regional and metropolitan areas.
According to police, the technology resulted in 122 arrests and nine incorrect alerts. Officers also engaged with 146 registered sex offenders during the trial period, which concluded on Saturday.
Why it matters
The trial represents one of the largest deployments of real-time facial recognition in public spaces, raising questions about surveillance technology use and accuracy in law enforcement.
Original reporting
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