Facial recognition can offer up additional intelligence. These systems can memorize the faces of persons of interest, networks of gang members, wanted criminals and those suspected of involvement in serious violent crimes.
Congress has not passed any laws regulating police use of facial recognition in the year.
Pros of facial recognition
One of the major advantages of facial recognition technology is safety and security. Law enforcement agencies use the technology to uncover criminals or to find missing children or seniors. In New York, police were able to apprehend an accused rapist using facial recognition technology within 24 hours of an incident where he threatened a woman with rape at knifepoint. In cities where police don’t have time to help fight petty crime, business owners are installing facial-recognition systems to watch people and identify subjects of interest when they come in their stores.
Airports are increasingly adding facial recognition technology to security checkpoints; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security predicts that it will be used on 97 percent of travelers by 2023. When people know they are being watched, they are less likely to commit crimes so the possibility of facial recognition technology being used could deter crime.
