The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) has embarked on a groundbreaking pilot project, becoming the first police force in the world to test facial recognition technology integrated into body-worn video cameras. The technology is being supplied by Axon Enterprise Inc., a U.S.-based firm known for developing tools for law enforcement.
A Pioneering Proof of Concept for Safety
The limited trial, described as a Proof of Concept, began this month and will run for the remainder of December. During this period, up to 50 Edmonton police officers will be equipped with the specialized cameras during their shifts. The primary goal is to assess the system's ability to interface with the EPS database to alert officers about individuals who have specific safety flags or cautions from past interactions.
This includes people with outstanding warrants for serious crimes such as murder, aggravated assault, and robbery. The mugshot images used for comparison will be drawn from the existing EPS database.
How the "Silent Mode" Technology Works
A key feature of the trial is that the facial recognition software will operate in "Silent Mode." This means that while the body cameras are actively recording, the facial recognition feature will run automatically in the background. Crucially, officers on patrol will not receive any real-time alerts or notifications about potential matches on their devices.
Officers involved in the test will conduct their duties as usual. After their shifts, a dedicated team of officers with expertise in the technology will review the captured footage. Their role is to verify whether the facial recognition software correctly identified individuals and to check the accuracy of any potential matches.
Evaluation and Data Handling Post-Trial
Following the conclusion of the test at the end of December, EPS will evaluate the technology's safety benefits and its impact on day-to-day policing operations. The service has also outlined its data retention policy for the trial: any still images captured specifically for the facial recognition analysis will be deleted. However, the original video footage will be preserved in accordance with standard EPS record-keeping rules.
The Edmonton Police Service announced further details of this initiative at a news conference held on Tuesday morning, framing it as a step toward "advancing technology to enhance officer and public safety." Axon, the company behind the technology, was originally founded on its Taser product and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
