WA Police to Trial Live Facial Recognition Cameras in Australian First

Western Australia is set to become the first jurisdiction in Australia to trial live facial recognition cameras, a move aimed at enhancing police capabilities in public spaces. The technology will be used to scan crowds at major events and in crowded areas, identifying individuals who are wanted by police, are registered child sex offenders, or are reported missing.

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This is not about mass surveillance. This is about specifying those in our community who are wanted by police.

The trial will utilize a marked police van equipped with standalone cameras. This van will be deployed at locations such as entertainment precincts like Northbridge and large-scale events at Perth Stadium. Police Commissioner Col Blanch emphasized that the initiative is not about mass surveillance but rather a targeted approach to identify specific individuals within the community who are subject to outstanding arrest warrants or are listed on sex offender registries. The database is expected to contain approximately 4,000 individuals with warrants and thousands of registered child sex offenders.

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CCTV cameras are everywhere. They are owned by private businesses, local councils, they are around the world ... and who are they owned by, no-one would know. They capture information of everyone, they store pictures of everyone, for how long, I don't know.

Commissioner Blanch sought to address potential privacy concerns, drawing a comparison to existing CCTV systems. He stated that unlike standard CCTV, the facial recognition technology in the trial will pixelate images of individuals not found in the database and will delete this data almost immediately. "This is actually a way that we can increase the freedoms and the privacy of our community. This is less of an intrusive capability than a standard CCTV camera," he explained.

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This technology here pixelates those who are not on the list, does not store information, deletes it immediately. This is actually a way that we can increase the freedoms and the privacy of our community. This is less of an intrusive capability than a standard CCTV camera.

While this initial trial involves a single marked van, the possibility of using covert technology in the future has not been ruled out, given the force's existing use of facial recognition on recorded footage. Blanch expressed a desire for community comfort and ongoing dialogue regarding the technology's deployment. Clear signage on the van is also intended to inform the public and potentially deter individuals who might be recognized from attending events.

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We already use facial recognition in a capacity that is not overt. We already do that.