Professor Josh Davis and PCSO Andy Pope of the West Midlands Police will be on Crimewatch Live on BBC1 at the time shown. Both, of course, are members of the Association. We wish them well with their appearance, which we hope will promote the use of SRs.
Police Super Recognisers in Germany→
/This article details SR testing for police officers in Baden-Wurttemberg, a state in south-west Germany. The article is in German, with an English translation below. Super Recognition continues to spread across the globe!
Polizei etabliert „Super-Recogniser“: Baden-Württemberg.de (baden-wuerttemberg.de)
The Baden-Württemberg police established so-called "Super Recognizers" across the board. They can memorize faces well above average and use this ability to support investigations. Only one to two percent of the population are suitable for super-recognizers. “The investigations into the night of the Stuttgart riot in June 2020 have very special challenges. It's about violent criminals and rioters who committed crimes indiscriminately, under cover of darkness, individually or in small groups. The police brought light into the darkness here - among other things by relying on the special skills of their officers. From the beginning, the investigators at the Stuttgart police headquarters used so-called super recognizers. These are people who have outstanding skills in memorizing and recognizing faces or individual parts of their faces. This is an innate talent that only around two percent of the population have. Many people don't even know that they have these skills, ”said Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Thomas Strobl. Super recognizer in action after the night of the riot “The success of the Super Recognizers is obvious: a significant number of the approximately 130 suspects identified so far from the night of the riot can be traced back to the skills of these officers. In order to be able to adequately appreciate their performance, one also has to be aware of the quality of the underlying recordings - they are taken in dynamic situations, often blurred, in the dark, and faces can only be seen briefly and partially. The success of the Super Recognizers, who are supported by the experts for photo comparisons at the Forensic Institute, is all the more remarkable. Proof that we are pulling out all the stops to finally arrest all of the perpetrators of the night of the riot, ”said Minister Thomas Strobl. The Stuttgart Police Headquarters has taken on a pioneering role in the use of super-recognizers, which has been doing the preparatory work for the nationwide operation in cooperation with the University of Greenwich in London since March 2018. The starting point there was the finding that a small group of police officers were above average at recognizing people on surveillance cameras. Test procedure at the Police College “Baden-Württemberg is one of the safest countries in the republic. Crime is at its lowest level since 1984. In 2020, our police cleared up a total of 64 percent of all criminal offenses in Baden-Württemberg. This is the best clear-up rate since the early 1960s! But nobody rests on these very good figures, we are constantly working on an ever better police force. In order to identify even more unknown perpetrators in the future, especially of criminal offenses in public spaces, we are implementing current research findings and are now intensifying the use of super-recognizers at the Baden-Württemberg police. To this end, we are now establishing an identification procedure for so-called super-recognizers at the Baden-Württemberg Police College for prospective police officers, ”the Minister of the Interior continued. As a result of the test procedure at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Police University, all regional police headquarters will receive identified super recognizers via the regular distribution procedure from this spring, which they can use in a targeted manner. And thanks to the major recruitment campaign, the police can also draw on considerable personnel potential here. In future, every graduate of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Police University will be able to find out whether he or she is a Super Recognizer, "emphasized the President of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Police University, Martin Schatz:" These colleagues are for the police a great enrichment and ultimately an important building block for the security of citizens in the country. " Valuable support for the police “If we have people in our ranks with such talent, we want to use them for effective law enforcement. With a multi-stage test procedure, we are therefore looking for those among our budding police officers who have this talent. This potential will help us to identify more criminals and thus bring them to justice, ”emphasized Minister Thomas Strobl. The Baden-Württemberg Police University has launched an internal advertising campaign specifically for the voluntary test procedure. The participants are assessed in three stages with individual cognitive abilities for memorizing and recognizing faces or individual parts of the face in the areas of short-term, long-term, face comparison and from crowds. The first test phase of the three-part test has already been completed, the second phase is currently running. Several hundred participants have already been tested. Those who have completed the first test phase also take part in the second phase. Only those police officers who have previously achieved excellent results will be invited to the third and final test phase. Due to the corona pandemic, the test procedure takes place entirely online.
FREE On Line Conference - Dr Craig Donald & the Surveillance Camera Commissioner→
/Those who have attended SRI face to face training will have enjoyed Dr Craig Donald’s two day session on spotting suspicious behaviour. He features on this free on-line conference relating to making CCTV operators more effective. AND whether you have attended live or on-line training, you will know the importance of the Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC) and his Code of Practice. The out-going SCC, Tony Porter, will also be speaking.
The conference is on Tuesday 16th March 2021 at 1300 (GMT).
Follow the link to book your FREE place.
British Army Purchases Drones→
/It has been reported that the British Army has purchased thirty new drones, which can fly in all manner of bad weather. These will be used to spot targets on the battlefield or during anti-terrorism operations. If the Army found its Super Recognisers, they would be the best troops to verify the identification of a wanted terrorist or other human target. The best humans always ensure equipment can be used most effectively.
UK Report on Facial Recognition AGAIN notes need for trained human operators→
/A report has been published by the British Journal of Criminology entitled:
‘Assisted’ facial recognition and the reinvention of suspicion and discretion in digital policing
The most relevant section is shown below, but the full report is on the link. It shows how AFR (automated facial recognition) needs human intervention.
Human–computer interaction
The potential of AFR becomes realized when computer-generated matches are resolved through human activity. In most instances, this either involves an initial decision to disregard a match or, conversely, a suspect being engaged by street-based intervention teams tasked with conducting additional identity checks with AFR-matched individuals. In practice, this ‘second stage’ of activity was an arena of contestation and negotiation.
Human operators, therefore, constitute an essential component of the AFR process and play the primary role in adjudication. Two officers usually carried out this role. Many received formal or informal training prior to deployment, and some occupied non-operational roles, meaning AFR was a novel experience for them. Variances in operator capability were evident across both research sites and these disparities mirrored those encountered in other forms of biometric policework, such as that identified in DNA typing activities (Cole 2002).
Such considerations shaped the deference some officers gave to the algorithm and, conversely, why others were more sceptical of its performance. During one SWP (South Wales Police) deployment, one operator was visibly frustrated with a lack of correct alerts being generated in their van, while, on the same day, operators conducting surveillance elsewhere in the city centre had succeeded in locating and arresting multiple ‘persons of interest’. As a result, this operator became less trusting of alerts generated by the system. Despite habituation to the system, the technology thus reduced the sense of suspicion he experienced. Similarly, in London, once an AFR match had first been deemed incorrect by operators (on the third day observed), the overall rate of disconfirmed alerts increased slightly. Such incidences demonstrate the varied responses among human operators of AFR. However, while deference to suggestions generated by algorithmic decision-making was largely habitual—and with 26 of 42 computer-generated alerts considered suitably credible to intercept a matched individual in London—it is important to acknowledge the important role of some officers’ (techno)scepticism.
Roles and interactions between adjudicating officers undertaking this duty varied considerably. Sometimes, one operator would be looking for the person in the crowd while the other was describing them aloud from the image captured on the screen: operators reported using key facial features, such as eyes, nose, mouth, jawline and hairline to inform their decisions. While not relevant to a subject’s appearance, some officers also recruited background information (e.g. offence type) for their deliberations. At other times, contrasting approaches occurred within the same operational team. In London, any disagreements over whether to launch an intervention were always resolved in the affirmative, though this was not the case during SWP deployments.
Technical difficulties sometimes limited the role of AFR. During mobile deployments in central London, radios continually failed to work inside the AFR van. The corollary effect of these network fractures is illustrated by the following field note:
Fourth AFR match of the first Soho deployment (0.57 threshold). The officer adjudicating images attempts to radio a request to intercept a suspect. Responding to failures of both the radio and mobile tablets he lent out of the van and tried to radio again. When this failed, he took off after the suspect on foot. By this time the individual had crossed almost the length of Leicester Square. Limited adjudication time. Decision-making was near instant. With reflection significant differences were apparent between the probe and gallery images. The gallery image had moles on the suspects face, the probe image had none. While difficult to ascertain at first, most tellingly they had different colour eyes. A false positive (MPS, 17 December 2018, 14:22 pm).
Compensating for technical difficulties, therefore, not only limited AFR capability but also compressed the time available for discretionary adjudication. During South Wales’ initial deployments for the Champions League Final when the system was still being configured, it was slow and often produced ‘lag’. For example, 90 seconds elapsed between the camera timestamp and real alert time, ‘which was especially evident where a potential match was brought up by the system’ (field note, SWP, 31 May 2017). This relationship between different components of human-technical networks also reflects a critique among accounts of surveillance informed by assemblage theories rehearsed above: while surveillance practices involve intricate relationships between different forms of technology, they are not necessarily enhanced by such unions. Single points of failure inhibit the network and reduce overall surveillance possibilities.
https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/61/2/325/5921789#.YDycnz3-efQ.twitter
More Controls on Automated Facial Recognition in the US→
/The State of Massachusetts has now introduced legislation requiring a judge’s authority before police officers can carry out automated facial recognition comparisons. Local officers are forbidden from carrying out the checks, which can only be carried out by State law enforcement agencies or the FBI. Washington State is also setting the pace in controlling computerised systems. See the article:
Feedback from February Course
/The February on-line course was attended by 34 students from four continents - Australia and Europe, together with North and South America.
The top scoring student was Daniel from England, he stated:
“Overall I found the course to be extremely in-depth for its 3 day turn around and provided excellent insight into the world of super recognition and its benefits whilst also teaching basic behavioural analysis, laws and report writing which are all vital in this particular field of surveillance. I found the all the talks from active super recognisers and experts within the field to be immensely useful and helped provide a real glimpse into the expected life and careers of being a super recogniser.”
Germán from Barcelona - “I found the course extremely valuable. Not only do you assess your potential as a Super Recogniser but you also learn all the legal things that are relevant to this job. Mike delivers a very good training course and participants also get to learn from other professionals, who are experts in their field. I particularly enjoyed the insight given by Kelly, who really brings alive what it is like to do such an interesting job. Everything was very nicely explained.”
Manuella from Brazil - “Taking part of the Course was a unique experience, once besides possibility of interaction with people from different places of the world and having similar skills, learning about super recognition was crucial. The speeches, which involved scientific and practical aspects regarding to Super-recognisers, were carried out brightly by qualified professionals, and that work in the field of super recognition in some way. It was worth getting involved in the Course and having discovered new things about this huge universe and full of possibilities.”
The next on-line courses are 25th-27th May and 7th-9th September. Association members are entitled to a discount.
Super Recognisers spread to Spain→
/Super Recognisers featured in an article in the best-selling Spanish newspaper “El Mundo”. If you wish to read the full article (the link has a paywall), email mike.neville@superrecognisersinternational.com for a PDF version.
https://www.elmundo.es/papel/historias/2021/02/22/602f97c0fdddff13788b45b4.html
Why Super Recognisers should check automated identifications→
/In the UK, no one can be arrested or searched due to a computerised facial recognition identification alone. According to the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s Code of Practice there must be “human intervention” before such actions are taken and Super Recognisers are the ideal people to provide that. The false identification of suspects, particularly black men, in the US by automated systems shows why this rule should be adopted internationally.
Article by Dr Craig Donald→
/Association members who have attended a face-to-face course will recall the excellent input from Dr Donald on spotting suspicious behaviour. In this article, the South African behavioural expert discusses the use of CCTV to identify criminal conduct and how operators can read body language.