The Home Office is to provide police forces with £55.5 million over the next four years to deploy facial recognition systems.
It is part of a package of measures directed against shoplifting, including the increased use of GPS tagging for repeat offenders.
The investment in facial recognition will include £4 million for bespoke mobile units that can be deployed to higher streets to take live footage of crowds and identify people wanted by the police, including repeat shoplifters. Local police will then be alerted so they can track down offenders.
So far no further information has been made available, but the move amounts to a reaffirmation of the Home Office’s intent for police forces to make greater use of the technology. In October of last year the Government’s policing minister, Chris Philp, encouraged its use, saying it could be applied to sources other than CCTV cameras, and plans were announced for an integration with the Police National Database.
The approach has come despite concerns over the implications for civil liberties. Earlier this year the Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the House of Lords called for the development of a clear legal foundation for the use of the technology.
More tagging
This comes with a new policy on the use of GPS tags. Under an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, if an offender is found guilty of assaulting shop staff three times or sentenced for shoplifting on three separate occasions they should be made to wear a tag as part of any community order.
This will enable the Probation Service to track their movement and remind offenders that they risk being sent to prison if they refuse to obey the rules of the orders.
Other measures announced by the Home Office include making it a standalone criminal offence to assault a retail worker, with sentences of up to six months in prison, jail terms for offenders who break orders barring them from specific premises, and a pilot of a bespoke package of community sentencing measures that can be used by judges to tackle high levels of shoplifting.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the package reflects concerns that shoplifting and violence against retail workers has increased.
“I am sending a message to those criminals - whether they are serious organised criminal gangs, repeat offenders or opportunistic thieves – who think they can get away with stealing from these local businesses or abusing shopworkers, enough is enough,” he said.
“Our local shops are the lifeblood of our communities, and they must be free to trade without the threat of crime or abuse.”
