Covering faces won’t help criminals hide their identity

Vadodara: Wearing a mask can no more help any criminal get away from the police clutches. The city police have installed a facial recognition system that can identify a person even if his or her face is half-covered. And once its trials are successful, the system will be installed by the government in all the cities across the state.
“Facial recognition systems are an important part of surveillance and criminal investigations in the future. Currently, the system can identify a person with his face completely visible. We did trials to find out if we are able to identify someone wearing a mask,” said Anupam Singh Gahlaut, city police commissioner.
“The trials were successful as the system was able to identify a person whose half face was covered. The facial recognition system captures key features of the face and runs it through the database. Someone wearing a mask to hide his or her face too can be identified now,” Gahlaut told TOI. The new system will come in handy in the times when it has become mandatory to wear a face mask in public places.
“The government wants to implement facial recognition system across the state and hence it asked Vadodara police to conduct trials. Our trials were successful and we have informed the government about it,” Gahlaut added.
The cops are now conducting trials by adding and removing moustache or beard on a face to ascertain if the system can identify any man if he changes his looks.
Apart from tracking wanted criminals, this system will be very useful in identifying rioters as well as mischief mongers, who frequently create disturbance in the walled city areas.
“The new system can also identify mischief mongers or wanted criminals through live streaming. If images of a wanted person are captured, the system can give out an alarm and alert the cops,” said Sandip Chaudhary, DCP Zone II.
The city is already equipped with 750 CCTVs and another 409 will be added in the walled city by the end of this month. After the Vadodara Municipal Corporation gave a grant of Rs 20 crore, the police will be further adding 700 more CCTVs across the city. “And each of this CCTV will be connected with the facial recognition system,” Gahlaut said.