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New police facial recognition cameras have started to be deployed across Perth this week, with the technology based at Midland Gate leading to several arrests on Monday.
WA Police announced on Friday they would be trialling the new real-time “overt facial recognition technology” on Perth streets over the coming weeks.
The cameras are mounted on marked police cars in public spaces, and WA is the first Australian state to trial the technology.
Crowds are scanned for people wanted by police, registered child sex offenders, and missing people, with faces matched to a database containing about 4000 people.
On Tuesday, WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said the arrests this week were a positive result for the technology.
“People felt incredibly safe and appreciative that that technology was there and in place in Midland,” he said.
“I think we need to remember the extraordinary lengths the police have gone to in Western Australia in terms of governance to make sure we get this right, to make sure privacy is protected, and to make sure that no information is retained that doesn’t relate to anyone who is wanted for arrest or a warrant.”
It is understood the arrests mostly related to people on outstanding warrants.
The cameras will be in Perth’s CBD on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Claremont, Joondalup, Armadale, Mandurah, Fremantle and Scarborough later in the week.
When the trial was announced last week, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the initiative was about using modern technology responsibly to keep the community safe.
“It allows police to focus on individuals who present a real risk, while the vast majority of people go about their day without any impact at all,” he said.
WA Police were criticised following the pandemic for using data collected by the SafeWA tracking app to hunt down criminals and investigate the high-profile assassination of bikie boss Nick Martin.
Last week, WA Greens parliamentary leader Dr Brad Pettitt labelled the new facial recognition technology as a “massive overreach” and a “deeply concerning development from the most authoritarian Labor government we have ever seen”.
“Western Australians will be rightly concerned that they might be surveilled in real-time from Monday without any warning or consultation; it’s like something out of Black Mirror,” he said.
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