"AI-based facial recognition to strengthen law enforcement in Gujarat"

Facing limited resources and lack of adequate funding, Indian police agencies have been utilizing more and more technology-based solutions to fix criminal cases. The National Crime Records Bureau's tender for face recognition reported that this system will provide a "sea change" in investigating out crimes, the handling of criminals, and similar operations by permitting security forces across India's 28 states and 9 federally administered areas to access a centralized database of images.

The City Police of Vadodara has reported having successfully tested an AI-based Facial Recognition System to track missing offenders. According to the  City Police of Vadodara, this system is going to help the city enhance its law enforcement system and curb crime.

Facial recognition is a method of recognizing a human face by way of a mix of Artificial Intelligence and image processing technology. The facial recognition system uses biometrics to map skin features from a photograph or maybe a video or even a hand sketch.

"Vadodara City Police is going to be 1st in the state to make use of FRS. It's used via CCTV networking & database of absconders, child racket, and criminals that have not been arrested to locate them," said DCP Sandeep Chaudhary, Zone 2 of Vadodara city.

DCP stated an existing database of offenders and missing persons is uploaded in the FRS system that is connected to the network of 700 CCTV digital cameras across the city. IF any of the faces captured through the CCTV matches the database, the police will instantly be notified about their exact location.

The first step has been recently analyzed in 2 to 3 different scenarios It's been subjected to testing with live CCTV feed too. Photographs had been uploaded of several suspects in the database and the second they arrived under any CCTV in the network, we have the precise location and then alerted officers on the field instantly.

In order to make the FRS stronger, the city police are going to add extra digital cameras across the city. Recently, the city administration has authorized yet another proposal under which around 500 extra CCTV digital cameras will be added to the city's networking, and also with this, the city's CCTV network will reach 1,550-1,650 cameras. With this Police Dept will keep a sharp eye on all the crowded places and borders of the city.

AI civil society and experts have raised concerns about facial recognition technology's broader implications. These include different risks posed by saving all one's biometric details on a database which may be vulnerable, in addition to that technology's unprecedented infringement of people’s privacy. Yet, the implications are completely different in the 2 contexts described above. The acceptability of facial recognition is going to increase for certain and safeguards will be added in and matching algorithms enhanced as well as reviewed periodically. Many cities are planning cameras installed in the city along with command and control centers. Security needs are going to grow and so will the demand for such intrusive technologies.