New facial recognition cameras have been used in Piccadilly Gardens for the first time and resulted in two arrests
a 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being wanted for possession of an offensive weapon.
A second male, 36, was arrested on suspicion of being wanted for criminal damage with one of his bail conditions not to enter Piccadilly Gardens.
Both men were identified and arrested after being uploaded to a watchlist before the deployment.
Four other arrests were made by officers supporting the operation with two on suspicion of possession of drugs, one for failing to appear at court and one on suspicion of a public order offence.
Two people were also charged following deployments in Bolton town centre last week.
Inspector Jon Middleton said: “Today’s arrests again show the value of Live Facial Recognition and using the technology alongside traditional policing methods.
“LFR is proving to be a valuable tool in helping us identify and arrest individuals who pose a risk to our communities, allowing law-abiding people to go about their business safely.
“In Greater Manchester, it’s already supporting our officers by enabling faster, more accurate identification of wanted suspects.”
The cameras will focus on a specific area or crowd and detect faces compared to a pre-prepared watchlist with an alert issued immediately if there is a match.
The images and biometric data of those who don’t cause an alert are automatically and immediately deleted.
The vans will be back in Piccadilly Gardens on Friday,
