Super Recognisers & Masked Suspects→

We live in a world where people can now go into banks and businesses wearing a mask - unthinkable a few months ago. Criminals can take advantage of the current virus crisis and use masks, not to control Covid 19, but to conceal their identity. Two reports show how human Super Recognisers can assist law enforcement agencies to identify those who commit crime with most of their face concealed.

Research by Prof Josh Davis of Greenwich University demonstrated that masked suspects can be identified by human Super Recognisers, see:

https://ef7ac492-0255-46b7-9653-75e8356be6c1.filesusr.com/ugd/9bb3fa_ea526c72142d4c5f8523167ec306cf11.pdf?index=true

Meanwhile, the US National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST) notes that “Algorithms created before the pandemic generally perform less accurately with digitally masked faces.” People, in the form of Super Recognisers, are the solution.

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2020/07/nist-launches-studies-masks-effect-face-recognition-software

Super Recogniser Interviewed on Australian Television→

See Kelly Hearsey, the COO of Super Recognisers International Ltd, being interviewed by the hosts of the breakfast TV show on Channel 10 in Australia. Kelly describes how she discovered her skills and became an operational Super Recogniser, working with the police, the security industry and the media to fight crime and identify persons of interest. The TV hosts also test their facial recognition abilities. You too could take this path, if you are a Super Recogniser!

US Podcast on Super Recognizers - Part 2→

Dr David Robertson and Prof Josh Davis speak about the benefits of human Super Recognisers (or Recognizers if you are in the USA!) and how they can make automated facial recognition software more effective AND more ethical, in accordance with civil liberties. As Prof Davis states, using Super Recognisers is just “good, old-fashioned policing” - the public expect police officers to identify criminals.

https://www.superrecognisers.com/post/videocasts-with-us-department-of-homeland-defense-security-information-analysis-center

Association Presentation Day - Thursday 4th February 2021

The presentation day for Licentiates and Honorary Fellowships will be held on the afternoon of 4th February at 86 St James’s Street in central London. It is hoped that Covid 19 restrictions will allow th

September 04, 2020e event to occur. All those receiving awards from Lord Lingfield will be notified in due course.

Swiss Police use Super Recognisers→

The Zurich Polizei (City and Canton Police Forces) are the latest law enforcement agencies to use the skills of Super Recognisers. A police investigator, Lorenz Wyss, has written a thesis on the benefits of Super Recognisers and is convinced that they can assist to solve crime.

In the article (in German), it notes that:

In the Winterthur City Police, Lorenz Wyss used to compare pictures of pickpockets every day.
                At an international conference on pickpocketing, he first heard of super-recognizers: people with the ability to easily memorize and recognize faces. With this talent, it has been proven that higher hit rates can be achieved in identifications. To implement this idea in the canton of Zurich, he pursued in his diploma thesis in the advanced technical examination.
 He was enthusiastic about this and was awarded the VSPB innovation prize.

The Association wish the Swiss Police well in their use of this vital crime fighting tool. Another nation is added to the list of those using Super Recognisers to make their cities safer.

https://www.vspb.org/content/docs/003%20Aktuell/1%20Verbandszeitung%20police/Ausgabe%20072020/Höhere%20Trefferquote%20dank%20Super-Recognizern.pdf

Dr Josh Davis Promoted to Professor

The Association is very pleased to announce that Josh Davis has been promoted to Professor of Psychology. For many years Josh has been at the forefront of the research into Super Recognisers, beginning with the Metropolitan Police in 2011. As a result of his efforts, he was the first academic to receive Honorary Fellowship of the Association from Lord Lingfield. We wish Professor Davis every success in his future work.

Article about SRI Chief Operating Officer →

Kelly Hearsey, the COO of Super Recognisers International Ltd gave an account of her work as a Super Recogniser in a new article. Read about her work at:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ep487p/how-police-are-using-super-recognizers-like-me-to-track-criminals

US Podcast on Super Recognizers→

Accurate identity judgments are critical in ensuring that suspects can be apprehended by law enforcement and national security agencies and that fraud attacks do not go undetected at border control points. Research has shown that typical human observers are poor at facial recognition in these contexts. However, there is now a decade’s worth of science which shows that some individuals – known as super recognizers – excel at such tasks.

This video podcast is part one of a two-part series on the topic of super recognizers and facial recognition. In this podcast, Dirk Plante, Deputy Director of HDIAC, interviews two subject matter experts, Dr. Josh Davis and Dr. David Robinson, on facial recognition, discussing the definition of super recognizer and what makes a person more or less likely to possess the ability to be a super recognizer. This podcast also discusses methods that organizations can use to identify if they have personnel who are super recognizers. The next step of effectively utilizing this talent is also outlined.

https://www.hdiac.org/podcast/super-recognizers-part-1-of-2/

Read the HDIAC Journal article on the same topic and authored by the interviewees here: https://www.hdiac.org/journal-article/capitalizing-on-the-super-recognition-advantage-a-powerful-but-underutilized-tool-for-policing-and-national-security-agencies/

Live use of Automated Facial Recognition deemed unlawful in England & Wales

The Court of Appeal has overturned an earlier judgement in favour of South Wales Police and has deemed the use of live automated facial recognition (AFR) software as unlawful. Police had deployed AFR in Cardiff to check fans attending a large sports event, but its use was challenged by UK civil rights group, Liberty. The bans on the use of AFR in the USA and UK emphasise why law enforcement agencies should be using HUMAN Super Recognisers. More details in the attached BBC report:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53734716

Super Recogniser assists with Sixties' Beatles Mystery

According to the conspiracy theory, Paul McCartney was killed in a traffic accident and was replaced by a doppelganger - and there are all manner of alleged “clues” in Beatles’ songs, including “Strawberry Fields Forever “ and “She’s Leaving Home” and on their album covers, such as “Abbey Road”. Professor Sterling Harwood of California has examined all the evidence and used Super Recogniser Kelly Hearsey to compare images of Paul pre and post his “demise”. The results are included in Prof Harwood’s new book “The Greatest Mystery of the Beatles”.