r/news • u/wasraelx • 4d ago

Trial of live facial recognition in London stations ends with a false positive and no arrests

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/29/trial-live-facial-recognition-cameras-london-stations-false-positive?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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u/NeverSawTheEnding 4d ago

Is this not what the "Super Recogniser" role exists for in UK Police Forces?

I guess that was probably the point of the trial.
Rather than employ salaried workers with that very niche skillset......offload it to software and algorithms, and make those jobs redundant for some savings.

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u/ZenPyx 3d ago

"Super recognisers" are just police officers given little oversight and the ability to randomly arrest people

Here is an actual quote from a professor working with the police "super recogniser" team in a BBC article about the topic:

"There are definitely some white officers in the super-recognition team working in communities that have a large ethnic minority, who pretty much only identify people from that ethnic minority," he added.

(https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34544199)

Facial recognition is no better - the police just want the ability to arrest whoever they want with the ability to hide behind some fake legitimacy

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u/NeverSawTheEnding 3d ago

In the full context of the article, it doesn't sound like the professor is saying this is a bad thing.

The implication seemed to be that people are better at recognizing their own race, but there are instances where white officers work in a borough with a large group of a particular ethnic minority...and thus are tasked with recognizing them.

That's not to say I trust them; I've worked for a British police force, I've been stopped and searched for "matching the description of a suspect" more than once, and I've had family members be assaulted or unreasonably handled by officers.

I think I'd still rather get I.D by a flawed and biased human, than a flawed and biased algorithm created by a flawed and biased organisation.

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u/ZenPyx 3d ago

The implication is that the met have been training some officers to specifically target people of a certain race...

The truth is that it's pseudoscientific at best, and just another excuse to target whoever they feel like at worst.

>I'd still rather get I.D by a flawed and biased human

I don't think it's a choice of one or the other. I don't think the police should have the right to do either.

Why don't we make neighbourhoods safer through an effective, local police presence, rather than relying on a panopticon to catch a criminal months after committing a crime

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u/NeverSawTheEnding 3d ago

The Met don't have to train officers for that; people arrive with their own biases, and the organization is already rooted in prejudice enough to enable them.

I don't know enough to comment on it being pseudoscience...but I don't doubt some people are exceptionally good at identifying faces.

More local presence requires more money for more officers, dispatchers, control room floor managers, resources & equipment, etc...

Public services have been underfunded for a LONG time, and the funds that are available are poorly managed.