Facial recognition cameras defended by ex-detective as fear amongst Britons grows: 'They make Britain safer!'

A former Scotland Yard Detective has assured worried Britons that facial recognition cameras will only detect "wanted criminals", as fears amongst the population grows.

Speaking to GB News, Peter Bleksley criticised the "human rights brigade" for voicing their opposition to the use of facial recognition software, declaring they need to "give their heads a wobble".

The assurance comes as new polling has revealed that more than three in five Britons fear being wrongly implicated by "Big Brother" facial recognition technology.

The data, compiled by independent market research agency Opinium, also found that 69 per cent of the public believe they should have a say on how its rolled out across the country.

Reacting to the data, Mr Bleksley told GB News that it is "really worrying" that such a high number of Britons fear the tech, making clear that it helps detect "thousands" of criminals on our streets.

He said: "I'm afraid it's really worrying that these people do not fundamentally grasp what facial recognition cameras are all about.

"It is a very unfortunate but harsh reality that in the UK, there are thousands upon thousands of people who are wanted.

"Some are wanted for very serious crimes murder, rape, terrorism offences. Other people are wanted because they were arrested and failed to appear at court."

Mr Bleksley continued: "Some people are wanted because they lied their way into this country, and it is later discovered that they are wanted for very serious crimes in their home countries.

"Some people are wanted for breaching community orders, and the list goes on and on and on. It is only wanted people who are identified by facial recognition cameras."

The ex-detective assured that a facial recognition camera will only be "triggered" when it detects a face already in the police's database.

He explained: "There is a database of wanted felons, criminals, scoundrels, fugitives, so when a facial recognition camera is in operation, it may scan thousands upon thousands of faces.

"But it only triggers when it recognises one of those faces from the wanted list. Anybody else's face that is on that camera is instantly deleted if they are not a wanted person."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Fears 'Big Brother' facial recognition tech could wrongly implicate innocent Britons
• Police stop using facial recognition tech after it spots more black people than other ethnicities
• Londoners rage over 'dystopian' installation of UK's first permanent facial recognition cameras

Mr Bleksley called for "more" cameras to be rolled out across the country to help apprehend criminals who are currently out on the streets.

He told GB News: "So facial recognition cameras are here, and they are here to stay.

"We need them rolled out far more widely and they are a very, very good thing."

GB News host Nana Akua questioned Mr Bleksley on the concerns from Britons about the cameras "infringing on their liberty", to which he issued a blunt response.

He concluded: "Well, if anybody is so stupid as to want to allow rapists, murders, terrorists, asylum seekers who are wanted in their own country for those kind of kind of crimes to roam freely on the streets of Britain, actually needs to get their heads a wobble.

"This is about making Britain safer, and the human rights brigade, who want to bang on about infringement of civil liberties, quite frankly, will be proved to be fundamentally wrong."

The Opinium survey was commissioned by biometric security firm Face Int, and polled 2,000 British adults.

Face Int CEO Tony Kounnis said of the findings: "These findings show that public concern around facial recognition is not abstract or ideological."