London's most surveilled borough to introduced facial recognition CCTV cameras

"A west London borough's CCTV infrastructure is going to be boosted with technologies including facial recognition and AI-assisted cameras. Hammersmith and Fulham Council's Cabinet approved more than 3million in funding on Monday night to enhance the local authority's CCTV network. The borough already has more cameras per person than anywhere else in the UK with more than 2,000 currently operating."

"It is expected that the investment will come from existing and future developer contributions, plus income from boroughs which contract CCTV services from Hammersmith and Fulham. The Cabinet paper details how the live facial recognition cameras, which will "match faces against a defined police database in real time", are to be installed at identified crime hotspots. Two cameras are proposed at each of the 10 locations, including outside Shepherd's Bush Market on Uxbridge Road, Wood Lane outside Westfield and on King Street."

"The additional funding, which comes as a 4.5m, four-year investment programme nears completion, is intended to "improve crime detection and prevention, as well as [putting] additional cameras in parks", according to a council report. "This will elevate H&F to an exceptionally advanced level of CCTV crime detection capability," officers say. The 3.2m will be spent across a three-year period, starting this financial year and ending in 2027/28."

Hammersmith and Fulham Council will invest £3.2m over three years to upgrade local CCTV with facial recognition and AI-assisted capabilities. The borough already operates more than 2,000 cameras, the highest cameras-per-person ratio in the UK. The funding forms part of a wider £4.5m, four-year investment and is intended to improve crime detection and prevention and add cameras in parks. The investment will use developer contributions and income from external boroughs that contract CCTV services. Live facial recognition cameras will match faces against a defined police database at identified hotspots, with AI added to 500 cameras for analytics and operator efficiency.

Read at www.standard.co.uk