Nearly a month after anti-immigration protests and riots shook the UK, policing authorities have announced the arrest of 1,280 people, the majority of which were captured after obtaining video footage and matching their faces with retrospective facial recognition. Meanwhile, police authorities continue to announce new deployments of live facial recognition for public safety.
The police compiled evidence against the rioters using footage from body-worn video cameras, social media, CCTV and video doorbells. Additional video materials were captured by drones and helicopters and by evidence-gathering teams deployed on the ground during the protests, according to a document released by the UK parliament.
As of August 30th, 796 people have been charged for involvement in the violence that followed the Southport stabbing attack, which left three children dead and ten other people injured. The police have identified hundreds more suspects in connection with the disorder, data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) shows.