Latest news with #policetechnology
Sky News
a day ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Police to expand use of live facial recognition technology - amid concern from campaigners
The Metropolitan Police is more than doubling its use of live facial recognition technology. It will now be used up to 10 times per week across five days, up from the current four times per week across two days, the force has said. Privacy campaigners have called the expansion "incredibly concerning" at a time when its use is unregulated. However, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley says the technology is currently only used "to look for serious offenders like wanted offenders and registered sex offenders". Earlier this month, the force said it had made 1,000 arrests using live facial recognition to date, of which 773 had led to a charge or caution. The technology is also due to be used at the Notting Hill Carnival in London later this month. "We routinely put it out there and capture multiple serious offenders in one go, many of whom have committed serious offences against women or children, or people who are wanted for armed robbery," Mr Rowley said. "It's a fantastic piece of technology. It's very responsibly used, and that's why most of the public support it." However, not everyone agrees. Charlie Whelton, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, said: "Any tech which has the potential to infringe on our rights in the way scanning and identifying millions of people does needs to have robust safeguards around its use, including ensuring that proper independent oversight is in place." He urged ministers to act to regulate the technology in order to "protect people's rights, and make sure that the law on facial recognition does not get outpaced by the use". It comes as the force is restructuring to handle the loss of 1,400 officers and 300 staff due to funding cuts. As part of its restructure plans, the Met's public order crime team will increase from 48 to 63 members as protest-related crimes, particularly related to Israel, Palestine and the environment, have grown in the past two years. Sir Mark said laws are "very permissive and encouraging of protests, which is entirely understandable, and I've got no objection to that, but what we've seen, unfortunately, is a proportion of those create crime and offences". Neighbourhood teams are also being expanded to deal with street crime, including phone thefts, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting, with 80 officers moving to the West End team and 90 reassigned to robbery and theft hotspots in Brixton, Kingston, Ealing, Finsbury Park, Southwark and Spitalfields. Officers will patrol the streets, "taking on the pickpockets" and tackling gangs plotting to rob shops, Mr Rowley said. Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said they will focus on "tackling antisocial behaviour, phone robbery and shoplifting in key areas". The Met had more than 33,000 officers and more than 11,000 staff in February. Sir Mark warned in April that the force is facing a £260 million budget shortfall, with cuts removing the Royal Parks police and dedicated schools officers as a result.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Cincinnati Police Department drone program begins covering 40% of city
The drone's sirens wailed. And its red and blue lights flashed as it hovered in front of District 1 Police Headquarters. Through a loudspeaker, a voice echoed from the whirring machine: "Reporting for duty and ready for dispatch." Cincinnati police officially launched a new Drone as First Responder program during a news conference July 25. Chief Teresa Theetge called the program "life-saving" and "future-changing." Law enforcement technology companies Axon and Skydio sent representatives to witness the first flight. Noreen Charlton with Skydio said Cincinnati's program is the largest "drone as first responder" program in the Midwest. Axio's Kristin Lowman said it was one of the most advanced programs in the country. The new police drones can be remotely deployed and piloted toward the scene of an incident from "hives" placed across the city, Charlton explained. Within seconds, a drone could be at the scene of an incident while officers are still on their way. The department first introduced the program earlier this summer as one of its measures to combat an uptick in crime across the city, particularly in the urban core. Police Chief Teresa Theetge said officers have already been using the small aircraft to assist with ongoing investigations, like wanted persons or traffic incidents, and during street crime task force operations. Now, police say docks have been installed across the city to make deployment easier. The program will cover approximately 40% of the city – the Price Hill neighborhoods, Over-the-Rhine, Queensgate, West End, Downtown, CUF, Northside and Spring Grove Village. Theetge said she plans to have 90% of the city covered by the end of the year. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is in the process of launching its own Drone as First Responder program, and other major departments nationwide such as the New York Police Department have programs in place as well. The drones are part of a contract with Skydio, a U.S. manufacturer of drones for police departments and the military, and with Axon. Axon is known for Taser technology, body cameras, and online evidence storage. Cincinnati police's drones integrate with Axon's systems to allow officers to use one platform for monitoring and responding to incidents in progress. Police say drones will be used only in response to dispatched calls for service, not for random surveillance or general patrol. "The camera will be pointed at the horizon line during flight," Theetge said. All drone operators are Federal Aviation Administration-certified and trained in public safety drone use, police say. This story will be updated. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati police launch 'Drone as First Responder' program Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Yahoo
Drones in Blue: Albuquerque police deploying autonomous tech to 911 calls
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — What if police could see what's happening at a potential crime scene before they even arrive? The Albuquerque Police Department says it can now do that. A 'professional courtesy': How an officer crossed the line 'I challenge anybody to go research and find me a department that has as much or more technology than us,' Chief Harold Medina said. APD utilizes license plate readers, gunshot detection systems, helicopters, body cameras, bus dash cameras, speed cameras, and now autonomous drones. Typically, a person operating a drone must be able to see the actual drone. That's a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirement. But APD says it received a waiver from the federal agency, allowing the department to deploy drones as first responders. 'I think, as a whole, this has the potential to greatly increase our efficiency as a police department,' Medina added. Embattled McKinley County DA asks for emergency funding to keep her office running He explained that more than 50 drones will be housed in what APD is calling 'hives,' strategically located on the roofs of seven to nine buildings throughout Albuquerque. Trained operators at the Department's Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) will dispatch a drone from the closest hive to a potential crime scene. APD isn't disclosing the exact locations of the hives. However, the department allowed KRQE Investigates to get a close-up look at how the program will work. Fouad Cherair, the RTCC's Manager for Live Operations and a drone pilot, explained he can inspect the drone and assess flying conditions in under two minutes before takeoff. He can launch the drone with the click of a button, allowing it to fly autonomously, or take manual control using a mouse and keyboard. 'And while I'm doing this, I'm also maintaining visual of the airspace, along with ensuring that our GPS and connection signals look good,' he shared. The drone is equipped with a camera, and APD says responding officers will be able to view the live feed on their phones or patrol car computers. Cherair added that the pilot will also relay what they observe to officers en route. 'We're trying to take away response times from patrol officers by implementing drones first,' Cherair explained. 'So getting to the scene quick, assessing it, looking for victims, and helping with the coordination of resources.' Chief Medina added that the drone's quick deployment will also allow the department to determine whether an officer needs to respond. 'There is a suspicious car parked at the park. There's possibly a stolen car here. And we will now be able to launch our drone, saving officers for the time being to just verify that there is a car still there,' he explained. Knowing the technology could sound to some like 'Big Brother,' KRQE Investigative Reporter Ann Pierret asked the Chief when the drones will be used. 'They're not just going to be freely patrolling, looking for stuff,' he said. 'It's going to be referenced a dispatched call for service that we're already going to anyway.' And when it comes to gun crimes, Chief Medina said the drones will be linked with ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system, prompting a deployment to where shots are fired within 90 seconds, even if no 911 call is made. 'A lot of times, you know that it's going to take more than a minute and a half for an incident to fully develop — shots to be fired or a shooting or a homicide to occur. People get back to their cars, start leaving,' he explained. 'So we're hoping that it's going to be able to enable us to take people more quickly into custody in some of these cases.' The information the drone provides will also be key, Chief Medina said, to helping victims quicker. 'Officers may be staging blocks away, waiting for other resources to get there, and the offender is gone, and the victim could use medical services. And now our officers will be able to have the information,' the Chief explained. Pierret asked whether Chief Medina expects the new drone program to help prevent officer-involved shootings. 'Oh, potentially yes,' he said. 'As opposed to officers going into the backyard and looking and finding the individual, surprisingly, and not having that chance to de-escalate and negotiate with the individual. It definitely has the potential to reduce our officer-involved shootings and uses of force.' The footage recorded will be used as evidence, but APD said areas the drone passes over, such as homes and businesses, on the way to a potential scene will not be captured. The drones fly with the camera pointed straight ahead, so APD claimed it cannot encroach on someone's privacy below. 'We're going to be careful. We're going to be respectful,' Medina added. 'So I think that it is a win-win for our community, and I think our community deserves it.' This new program does not replace APD's two helicopters. The Chief said those are still needed for longer-range pursuits. The department plans to continue using its other line-of-sight drones, too, because the Chief shared they have different capabilities. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
BBC News
11-07-2025
- BBC News
Bedfordshire Police cars could get facial recognition cameras
Police vehicles carrying live facial recognition cameras could be in use across a county within the next police and crime commissioner (PCC) for Bedfordshire, John Tizard, said the technology may be rolled out in July but that August was "more likely" due to ongoing national approval technology had already been tested at the Bedford River Festival by the force, which led to two people being at the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Panel on Tuesday, Tizard said: "We are still waiting for the Home Office to agree on the technology to be used across the country." He added they "have got officers trained and we have got vehicles", which could be used as part of the force's Safer Streets Summer operational decisions on the camera deployment rest with the chief constable, the PCC must give consent to its overall commissioner clarified that this does not extend to individual deployments."He won't be coming to me to say, 'We're going to deploy it in Biggleswade town centre on this day,'" he added. The PCC also addressed concerns about how the technology works and the safeguards in place."When the police use it, a photographic image is taken and matched against predetermined databases," he said."If there is no match, the image is deleted immediately, in contrast with CCTV, where the image could be kept for some time."If there is a match, the system alerts a police officer to investigate further."Councillor Marc Frost from Bedford Borough Council asked how success would be measured and what safeguards existed to prevent PCC said the force would follow national guidance and legal requirements as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service."My plan is to set up an ethical panel that will not only have oversight of this area, but the whole use of AI across the police," he said."It won't be established in time for this use of the LFR (live facial recognition), but it would have community representatives and independent members with expertise."The PCC stressed that the technology is intended to support officers, not replace them. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Crypto billionaire offers $10M gift to revolutionize policing in crime-ridden major city
A San Francisco billionaire is offering a $10 million gift to the city to create a state-of-the-art police technology hub as he pleads with officials to clean up the streets. Chris Larsen, the co-founder of cryptocurrency platform Ripple, has requested San Francisco officials to approve his huge gift to enhance the city's policing. Larsen's funds would relocate San Francisco's Real-Time Investigations Center, the police's hub for overseeing tech including license plate readers, surveillance cameras and drones, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The entrepreneur, who has a net worth over $8 billion, is hoping to move the center from the SoMa Hall of Justice to the Financial District, into a building that he owns. The potential new HQ, located at his building 315 Montgomery Street, would be sub-leased to the police for free from Ripple, which owns a $2.3 million lease on the property through December 2026 but no longer uses it. Larsen is known for his funding of public safety initiatives, and beyond the free lease he is offering $7.25 million from his policing charitable organization, the San Francisco Police Community Foundation. In an interview with the Chronicle, Larsen said the crimewave that upended San Francisco in recent years has started slowing thanks to advancements in police tech that he hopes will continue. 'I think we can clearly see what a force-multiplier this is,' he said. 'The number of tools that they have is quite small, and we know that (expanding them) will have an impact.' The streets of San Francisco became synonymous with crime, homelessness and open-air drug taking in recent years, fueled by soft-on-crime policies from officials The streets of San Francisco became synonymous with crime, homelessness and open-air drug taking in recent years, fueled by soft-on-crime policies from officials such as former San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin. Boudin was recalled in 2022 as residents fumed over a lack of safety in the city, however crime in San Francisco has steadily dropped in recent times as it rebounds from the pandemic. Officials said investigative work done through the Real-Time Investigations Center helped assist over 500 arrests in 2024 and drove a 40 percent drop in auto thefts over a one-year period. Evan Sernoffsky, a spokesperson for the police department, said cops in the city are hoping Larsen's proposal is accepted, adding that his multi-million-dollar gift would 'supercharge' the unit. Commissioners within the San Francisco Police Department are set to discuss Larsen's funding proposal on Wednesday, and if it is accepted the proposal would move to the Board of Supervisors to finalize the deal. 'We cobbled together our current (Real-Time Investigations Center) with everything we basically had lying around,' Sernoffsky continued. 'Little did we know how effective it would become with just the tools at our disposal.' Larsen's funds would relocate San Francisco's Real-Time Investigations Center, the police's hub for overseeing tech including license plate readers, surveillance cameras and drones San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, the heir to the Levi Strauss denim fortune, was elected last year on a platform aimed at cleaning up the drug-infested streets. He defeated London Breed in the election as voters rebelled against her lenient policing policies, and Lurie said in a statement this week that the tech investigations center has become one of the most important assets to his police department. Lurie said it supports a severely understaffed department, and 'with this new facility, the SFPD will have the tools and the technology it needs to take this work to the next level.' 'I want to thank Chris Larsen for his continued dedication to our police officers and the safety of all San Franciscans,' the mayor said. Supporters of the proposal also say that the change of venue is desperately needed, with an ordinance proposal cited by the Chronicle noting that 'in its current location, the RTIC has experienced power and internet outages, and plumbing leaks from the ceiling.' 'The RTIC is in a windowless room in a concrete structure, which limits cell phone and emergency radio transmission capabilities,' the document stated. Larsen has become known in the city for funding such public safety projects, including gifting $1 million to his police charity to help officer wellness and financing surveillance cameras across the city.
