Hyd police to procure 'facial recognition software' to track criminals

Hyderabad police is all set to acquire a facial recognition software to identify antecedents of terror suspects, property offenders and other criminals at the click of a mouse once they are caught on CCTV camera.

The software will help the police identify the accused and suspects, instantly by matching them with a data bank of photographs of known offenders.

"We are thinking of procuring the 'facial recognition software'...It is at the proposal stage right now. Suppose we have a data of photographs of criminals and on a CCTV camera, some image is captured, then we can always compare the facial features of the image with the data bank. It (software) can identify and tell us who that person is," Additional Commissioner of Police (Crimes and SIT) Swathi Lakra told PTI.

"Right now, we have CCTV cameras across the city. Even if the image of a person is taken at any place or while committing any crime is captured, we are unable to know who that person is. "However, once this software is installed, if we get the image, basically the face, involved in some offence through the CCTV camera located in a shop or any other place, we can compare it with the data bank. Thus, it can help us in detecting cases very easily," she explained.

"It is almost like fingerprints. When we scan finger prints and compare with data bank of finger prints,  we get the name of such person," she said adding the software can also help in identifying any person whose photos have been taken around 50-years ago (i.e. when the person was aged 18-20 years then).

"The software will be able to tell us who the person is, in spite of beard or anything on his face," Swathi said. Some vendors have come forward and showcased the facial recognition software. "Shortly, they (vendors) will be taking up the pilot project for a month. We will see how it works and how to improve upon," the senior police officer said