More Super Recognisers for Thames Valley Police

This week, eight more human Super Recognisers selected and trained by SRI Ltd for Thames Valley Police - an innovative force! These officers will be used to identify suspects captured committing crimes on CCTV or other recording devices, and to proactively spot men who prowl the streets intent on committing VAWG (violence against women & girls) offences. TVP are making most of their officers' natural skills.

See more at:

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/23756664.thames-valley-police-using-human-superpower-hunt-suspects/

Association Presentation Day - London

An excellent day yesterday at the Association of Super Recognisers Presentation Day in London. The Chairman, Lord Lingfield, presented Super Recognisers certificates to successful students from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and the US. He also presented commendations to three members of Thames Valley Police - Detective Inspector Tina Wallace KPM, Kittie Rex and Alex Thorburn, for their excellent work in using super recognition skills to identify and prosecute criminals for offences from murder to theft. DI Wallace was particularly noted for her work in using Super Recognisers to target VAWG (violence against women & girls) offenders.

Photo shows Alex Thorburn receiving her commendation from Lord Lingfield.

Face Blindness - The Opposite of Super Recognition

It was the study of face blindness that led to Prof Richard Russell of Havard University finding people at the other end of the performance scale and naming them “Super Recognisers”. This article relates to a friend of the Association’s administrator, Gemma.

Nursery nurse, 22, suffers with worst case of face blindness in UK | Daily Mail Online

Association Presentation Day 2024

The Association of Super Recognisers Presentation Day will be held in central London on Thursday 25th April at 2.30pm. Our Chairman, the Right Honourable Lord Lingfield, will be presenting certificate and awards to those who have successfully completed SRI courses and to those who have performed exceptionally in the field of Super Recognition.

If you wish to attend, please email mike.neville@superrecognisersinternational.com for more details.

More SRI Courses in 2024

A successful course was held in February, attended by students from UK, France, Germany, Austria and India. Amanda from England gave this feedback:

“Course content was excellent. Really enjoyed the course and all the presenters presented very well. All very experienced and knowledgeable.”

You can attend and develop your skills and knowledge. The next two on line courses will be held 18th - 20th June and 8th - 10th October. See the SRI website for details:

Courses, Training & Online Learning (superrecognisersinternational.com)

Super Recognisers now in Switzerland

The use of Super Recognisers continues to spread across the world. Swiss Police have recruited six super recognisers in the city of St Gallen to help them identify criminals. See the article below:

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/identities/swiss-police-recruit-more-super-recognisers-to-identify-criminals/49184814

Automated Facial Recognition Systems Needs Super Recognisers!

How do we ensure that computer automated facial recognition (AFR) brings the right people to justice? The case below - where an innocent man was jailed and raped - highlights the problems with simply relying on technology. In the UK and Europe, no one can be searched, arrested or charged as a result of a computer identification, unless there has been "human intervention". AND who is the best human to do this - a human Super Recognizer (SR). The US agency NIST reports that combining AFR and an SR produces "near perfect results".

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13007297/texas-man-sues-sunglass-hut-facial-recognition-wrongly-identified.html

Latest Research - Identification when Face Masks Worn

The latest research from Prof Josh Davis & others is below. The full report is found via the link.

Abstract

Face masks present a new challenge to face identification (here matching) and emotion recognition in Western cultures. Here, we present the results of three experiments that test the effect of masks, and also the effect of sunglasses (an occlusion that individuals tend to have more experienced with) on (i) familiar face matching, (ii) unfamiliar face matching and (iii) emotion categorization. Occlusion reduced accuracy in all three tasks, with most errors in the mask condition; however, there was little difference in performance for faces in masks compared with faces in sunglasses. Super-recognizers, people who are highly skilled at matching unconcealed faces, were impaired by occlusion, but at the group level, performed with higher accuracy than controls on all tasks. Results inform psychology theory with implications for everyday interactions, security and policing in a mask-wearing society.

The effect of face masks and sunglasses on identity and expression recognition with super-recognizers and typical observers | Royal Society Open Science (royalsocietypublishing.org)

Super Recognisers to Target Sex Offenders

This article shows the problem of sex attacks on women in the UK. The issue of VAWG (violence against women & girls) is a priority for the police. Thames Valley Police, a real innovative force, are using human Super Recognisers, recruited from their officers and staff, to pro-actively spot known and suspected sex offenders, especially during the evening and night. Offenders can then be deterred and, where needed, arrested. Why not find the members of your team with this natural skill?? Make communities safer and target offenders with your Super Recognisers.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/24594415/uks-most-dangerous-areas-rape-and-sexual-assault/

New Year Discount on SRI Courses

New year - new skills? The New Year sale has begun - SRI Ltd are offering a 30% discount on their on-line human Super Recogniser Courses, if booked by 15th January 2024. Courses will run 27th-29th February and 18th-20th June.

These include intensive testing to establish your exact super recogniser skills (short / long term memory, matches faces and spotting faces in crowds). You will also be instructed in SR tactics and relevant laws and Codes of Practice (including how to work with computerised facial recognition) - with fun and realistic exercises. AND what will crime be like in ten years time AND how can SRs fight it???

For more details see the website. Add an extra tactic to make communities and venues safer. AND identify more criminals or vulnerable people.

Online Super Recogniser Course & Training (superrecognisersinternational.com)