19 hours ago
Super recogniser PCSO dubbed 'Memory Cop' breaks his own record after catching 3,000 suspects
A super sleuth police officer dubbed the 'Memory Cop' for his ability to remember and recognise offenders have broken his own record by reaching 3,000 arrests.
Eagle-eyed West Midlands Police PCSO Andy Pope, 47, has been hailed for his face recognition skills - and has now passed yet another milestone.
He uses his special talent to remember faces of wanted men and women which has led to him picking out his 3,000th suspect while on patrol earlier this year.
And West Midlands Police say the bad news for criminals is he has no intentions of stopping anytime soon.
Suspects spotted by Andy can often be in crowded places and he has even managed to pick out people while they were wearing face masks during the Covid pandemic.
He had also previously been able to identify a robber he had seen an image of a year before and another by the mole on their face.
Fellow officers claim Andy has even recognised faces from CCTV footage so grainy they wouldn't be able to pick out their own mothers.
Andy said: 'I'm just glad I can assist in catching crime suspects and keeping communities safe across the West Midlands.
'It's really hard to explain how I manage to remember and spot faces, as it just comes natural.
'It's a nice feeling to have passed the 3,000 milestone since I started the role.
'I'm hoping there will be many more to come too.'
The 'memory man' has previously been presented with the Chief Constable's award after catching an average of 200 suspected crooks every year.
The West Midlands Police officer, from Redditch in Worcestershire, averages one recognition every other shift.
He also became one of the first 20 people in the world to form part of the Super Recognisers Association in recognition of his razor-sharp skills.
Andy will often look through CCTV, video stills and police briefings to keep himself updated on people who are wanted when starting a shift.
It has seen him spot suspects in connection with a range of offences from attempted murder, assaults to sex attacks.
What are super recognisers?
The term super recognisers was first coined in 2009 by Harvard University for people with significantly better-than-average face recognition ability.
Super recognisers are able to memorise and recall thousands of faces, often having seen them only once.
It is estimated that 1 to 2% of the population are super recognisers who can remember 80% of faces they have seen.
The skill is recognised and employed among the British intelligence community and in May 2015 the Metropolitan Police officially formed a team made up of people with this heightened capability.
They have an uncanny ability to recognise faces, remembering people they have not seen for decades, who have substantially changed in appearance, and who they have only fleetingly encountered.
Super recognisers might assist with the matching of faces captured on CCTV footage, the comparison of faces to identification documents, or the scanning of crowds for known troublemakers, wanted perpetrators or even missing persons.
They may also help with victim identification, or deciding whether a person moving between borders is using a fraudulent identity or is even a missing child.
Popular tests assess participants' ability to recognise photographs of celebrities that were taken a long time before they became famous.
Speaking previously, Andy said: 'If you look at a picture enough times, there is usually something that sticks in the mind as distinctive.
'Maybe I can't pinpoint what that something is at the time, but when I see the person in the flesh, it triggers that recognition.'
His job for the force's Safer Travel Partnership entails travelling around the region on public transport, with his skills used to assist other departments.
His frequent travel also increases his chances of encountering suspects whose images he has seen on the police computer.
He added: 'It is hard to explain exactly how I remember so many faces.
'I spend time before I start a shift looking at some of the latest wanted faces and they just seem to stick in my mind.
'I feel a great sense of pride and satisfaction if I manage to remember a suspect from an image who is then arrested.
'Hopefully, there will be many more to come in future.
'There are officers and staff across the force who do various roles to help keep the streets safe.
'I am just pleased I can contribute and hopefully there will be many more crime suspects I can spot in future.'
Ironically, despite having a memory for faces, the officer admits to being 'useless' at remembering dates.
He said: 'I don't know whether I have a photographic memory.
'My wife has to deal with things like birthdays and anniversaries.
'When it comes to remembering dates, I'm useless.'
