Police build national mugshot database

Police are investigating how to incorporate facial recognition software into a new national mugshot database so they can track down criminals faster.

The Police Information Technology Organisation (Pito) is already working on a Facial Images National Database (Find) project to deliver a national mugshot database for police forces of England, Scotland and Wales.

It aims to create a database of still and video facial images, marks, scars and tattoos, linked to criminals' details on the Police National Computer.

The first Find pilot is planned for the first quarter of this year with forces in the north of England.

And now the agency wants to look at the business case for the national rollout of face recognition technology by police forces.

The agency has awarded contracts to Aurora Computer Services to install its facial recognition technology to provide demonstrations of the technology to the police service and other government agencies.

Geoff Whitaker, Pito's head of biometrics, said the organisation is currently "in the process of assessing the ability of current face recognition technology to meet the requirements of the police service for automated identification".

With the rollout of the Find database, he said, the use of facial biometrics will take on "greater importance" in policing.

He added in a statement: "As with any biometric, such as fingerprints, iris or DNA, the usefulness of facial recognition in identification is dependant on the circumstances in which it is used.

"Whilst at the present time it seems unlikely that the accuracy of automated facial recognition technology will ever match that of fingerprints, it is nevertheless a powerful tool used by each of us everyday to identify friends, colleagues and loved ones and it has a vital role to play within the investigative process."