Facial recognition trial leads to 79 arrests in Western Australia

According to the Western Australia Police Force, since the trial began on June 22, officers have deployed the technology 77 times across 36 metropolitan and regional locations. The system scanned 905,117 faces and generated 209 alerts.

Of the 79 arrests, 36 involved outstanding warrants. Officers also identified and engaged with 114 registered sex offenders and located eight people to check on their welfare.

Police reported eight incorrect alerts, equivalent to approximately 0.0009% of all faces scanned.

The technology compares facial images against a predefined alert list to help officers locate wanted individuals and people who may pose a risk to themselves or the community. According to police, images of people who are not on the list are automatically blurred in real time and are not stored.

The first regional deployment took place in Geraldton on September 11 and 12. It generated six alerts, resulting in one arrest and contact with three registered sex offenders. Associated police work led to two additional arrests, a summons, six move-on notices and an infringement notice.

Among those arrested during the trial was a 78-year-old man wanted after failing to appear in court in relation to child sex offences. The system detected him in central Perth on July 8, and he was charged with breaching bail.

In another case, officers arrested a 37-year-old woman at a shopping center car park in East Victoria Park on July 15. Her arrest warrant had been outstanding for 426 days. She was subsequently charged with stealing and breaching bail.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the final member of a fraud syndicate targeting Australia’s disability support and taxation systems had been sentenced to four years in prison.