Sexual Offending and Being Identified
As we become a world that is heavily reliant on technology it is only right that law enforcement keep up to date with advancements and tailor their methods to suit the society in which we will live. However, there are clear dangers to the use of technology particularly when police are relying on it to identify suspects in criminal cases, including registered and suspected sex offenders.
Since 2024 Met Police have made 1,035 arrests through the use of Live Facial Recognition Technology (LFR), from this 93 of the arrests were of registered sexual offenders who were either wanted by police, in breach of bail conditions or court orders.
Most recently 73 year old David Cheneler was arrested by police following the LFR technology installed on a police van alerting police to him being a person subject to the Sex Offenders Register. When he was approached by police he was in the company of a six year old child, which subsequently seen him arrested and charged for breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed upon him on an earlier date. He pleaded guilty to this offence and was sentenced to two years imprisonment for this breach.
Since its introduction in 2015 the aim of LFR technology is to identify individuals who are wanted by police, who may be breaching their bail conditions, not adhering to court orders or where there is a particular concern for a vulnerable person such as a missing child. You may have seen these cameras on police vehicles parked up in various locations, however the Met police have indicated that installation of more permanent cameras on streets are likely to be installed in the future to assist policing, and dealing with the ever decreasing police staffing levels.
How Does LFR Technology Work?
The LFR camera captures live footage of people who pass by and it compares their faces against a bespoke watchlist of suspects and/or registered offenders. If a match is detected, the system generates an alert to police who are in possession of a handset which sounds an alarm when that detection is made, the images of the person of interest will then appear on the handset which the officers can compare to the person identified by the camera.
The accuracy of the match is measured on a scale, anything less than 0.64 is considered unreliable, and therefore the individual is only to be pursued when the match exceeds this level.
The use of the LFR technology is only a small step in the identification and policing of suspects. When an identification is detected usual policing methods should then be deployed, and the police are responsible for making sensible and lawful decisions in respect of that person.
Are There Any Laws Regarding The Use Of LFR Technology
The use of LFR involves the processing of personal data and therefore data protection law applies, whether it is for a trial or routine use by the police. When operating the LFR police are required to have consideration to the principles and guidance set out in the Surveillance Camera Code however, the code requires more clarity and proportionality in respect of the intrusion of people’s privacy. Without this, we are likely to continue to see inconsistency across police forces and other law enforcement organisations
The danger we face at the moment is that there is no primary legislation governing this aspect of LFR technology, which means police are being left to their own rules. This will of course cause concerns and frustration to those who are known to police and may feel that they are regularly pursued by them. It is also unfair to those offenders who may have a police record, but are in fact going about their daily life lawfully, are police going to be stopping offenders in order to just question them on the road side?
Although the introduction of such technology aims to keep streets safer, it is crucial that parliament consider the risks to the public and their right to a private life. It is going to become a huge issue for the police, lawyers and the courts if we are dealing with misidentification or unlawful arrests due to the technology and there are not methods in place which provide legal guidance on its use other than how and where it is to be used.
Does an Alert Automatically Lead to Arrest?
An alert from the LFR camera does not automatically result in an arrest. Police officers have to base their decision to arrest a person on the laws set out by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1996, this being whether the arrest is necessary. Unnecessary arrests can lead to civil claims against the police.
What Happens if The Wrong Person is Detected by an LFR Camera?
It can be highly embarrassing to be stopped by the police and asked questions, particularly when you have done nothing wrong. This is a huge concern for members of the public who have been asked to comment on the use of LFR cameras. The response by the Met police is that it is very rare for the LFR cameras to get it wrong; out of 457 arrests, 7 were false alerts. However, it cannot be underestimated the impact an arrest can have on a person, and it can be an extremely difficult process to have that record of arrest removed where it is found that the person has in fact not committed a criminal offence.
Are LFR Cameras an Invasion of People’s Privacy?
There are of course going to be many concerns from the public about the possibility of them being recorded whilst going about their day to day activities innocently. However, any footage taken by the LFR camera of members of the public who are not wanted by police, or suspected of committing a criminal offence is said to be removed instantly and permanently deleted.
Sexual Offences and LFR Technology
If you have been convicted of a sexual offence then you are most likely subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register, you may also be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and you certainly will have a criminal record. The stigma attached to sexual offences is already so great that these camera are quite rightly going to cause concern for anybody who is already known to police.
The cameras will also aim to detect suspects who have not yet been caught by police, this can be those wanted for offences such as rape, sexual assault, stalking, and many others. Therefore, increasing the chance of identification and arrest.
How We Can Help You
Methods of identification the mistakes and lawfulness surrounding those has always been a problem in criminal proceedings, not in every case but of course it is not a new concept. At Eventum Legal we have dealt with many cases of mistaken identify, unlawful arrests, and abuse of police powers in sexual offence cases. The possibility of police getting it wrong when relying on fairly new technology is high, and without safeguards in place implemented by law it is important you take the right steps to ensure you have legal experts to challenge police decisions and to ensure you are safeguarded throughout any criminal investigation and court proceedings.
If you, a family member or friend has been accused of a sexual offence then speak to our team free of charge to discuss how we may be able to help you.