The Conservative candidate for Mayor of York and North Yorkshire has pledged to introduce controversial facial recognition cameras to catch criminals. 

The cameras, which scan people's faces in public and compare them with people on watch lists, has been hailed by some as a way to improve policing. But others have concerns about human rights and discrimination.

Keane Duncan said he wanted to test the technology across the county, if elected.

The mayor will take on powers from North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, which will be scrapped.

Mr Duncan said trials elsewhere in the country had found the cameras can cut the time required to identify criminals and missing people from days and months to “just minutes”.

He added that he wanted to pilot the technology in York, Harrogate and Scarborough.

Mr Duncan said:

The cameras are used by the Metropolitan Police in London.

According to the force, the technology was used to help arrest 10 people for offences including threats to kill, recall to prison for robbery, and possession of an offensive weapon in Croydon on December 14, 2023.

The technology uses a CCTV feed from a police van linked to facial-recognition software. 

The police upload photos of wanted criminals and the software creates an alert when a biometric match is found. The match is then reviewed by a police officer to confirm its accuracy. 

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