A live facial recognition technology is being used for the first time in Winchester to help identify and apprehend criminals.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary is piloting the use of the technology as part of an ongoing operation targeting individuals wanted on warrants, those evading court proceedings, and high-risk missing persons.

The technology will be deployed in vans at specific locations in Portsmouth, Southampton, Basingstoke, and Winchester over three days.

The vans will be in Winchester on Thursday, September 12.

The areas where it is being used will be clearly marked with signage and officers will be on hand to speak to members of the public and answer any questions.

READ MORE: Taxpayers to pay record amount for policing in Hampshire this year

The technology for the operation is being provided by South Wales Police as part of a mutual aid arrangement.

Images of people the police would like to speak to are added to a ‘watchlist’ that is unique to the operation.

The technology creates a biometric facial template from faces seen in the live video footage of crowds passing a camera and compares it against the biometric template of images in the list.

The biometric template of any image from the live video footage that does not cause an alert is automatically and immediately deleted.

Watchlist images and their biometric templates are deleted within 24 hours after each day of the deployment.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Bartolomeo said: “It is really important that police forces use every aspect of technology available to appropriately take criminals off the street and keep the public safe.

“Facial recognition can significantly help our officers by quickly scanning crowds to identify those on the watchlist, freeing up their time to focus on responding to emergencies, spending time patrolling within their communities and investigating crime.

“I’d like to reassure people that any alerts are verified by the operator and a police officer will conduct any enquiries with anyone who is matched. The officer will decide what action needs to be taken, in the same way that any other policing operation is conducted.

“Having access to technology alongside our traditional policing tactics means we are using everything at our disposal to keep the public safe, protect vulnerable people and bring offenders to justice.”