THE county's police and crime commissioner says live facial recognition technology will continue to be monitored. 

Deputy commissioner Jane Gardner said commissioner Roger Hirst feels positive about the equipment, but will continue to look at how it is used by the Essex force.

She said: “The commissioner is supportive of LFR in so far Essex Police use it for its intended purpose of identifying people wanted for arrest and so take them off the streets in a way which is effective and accurate. 

“We want to reassure Essex people that the PFCC will continue to scrutinise the use of LFR to make sure it is used proportionately and fairly.”

The technology went through a trial period which it passed with "flying colours".

In October 2023, live facial recognition was used for the first time in Essex in Southend and Chelmsford high streets.

There were five positive alerts, with arrests made in connection with rape and robbery investigations, and an outstanding warrant.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Pritchard said: “We already use retrospective facial recognition technology and have had some good success with it.

“This is basically where we have a CCTV or doorbell image of a suspect and run it through police databases.

“The facial recognition technology then tells us if there’s a match between the image and someone on the database.

“Between May and June, we used this technology to help identify almost 80 suspects this way and it really helps move investigations forward.”