Facial recognition technology to be used by Gardaí in post-riots crackdown

Mike Finnerty 14 Dec 2023

Government has published a draft law on facial recognition technology.

The technology will be used for investigations into offences including violent disorder.

The move comes in the wake of the Dublin riots, with Minister for Justice Helen McEntee looking to use the politically-charged environment to introduce legislation that Government claims will crack down on crime.

The Minister for Justice said the Bill aims to help gardaí “trawl” through thousands of hours of CCTV when investigating serious crimes.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has raised concern about how FRT could be used by authorities, with Liam Herrick, executive director of ICCL saying “bodyworn cameras are a new form of surveillance technology to be introduced in Ireland and they directly impact on people’s privacy rights and other key civil liberties such as freedom of assembly.”

“We need to be very careful in how they are introduced and ensure that adequate safeguards are put in place to protect people’s fundamental rights.”

Green Party TD Patrick Costello raised concerns about the implications of making the technology available to members of the Gardaí.

Helen McEntee stated that riots and violent disorder would be included in the list of offences that the technology could be used for and said it would only be used “retrospectively”.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris claimed there had been “huge distortion” over the issue, and that the technology would only be used for the “retrospective investigation” of serious crimes which involves analysing CCTV footage.
“Facial recognition technology will dramatically save time, speed up investigations and free up Garda resources for the high-visibility policing we all want to see,” McEntee said in a statement.“Reducing the amount of time it takes Gardaí to go through video footage will be of particular help where time is of the essence following a very serious crime being committed. It is in the interests of all parties, not least victims of crime, to have criminal investigations pursued as effectively and rapidly as possible.”Legislation surrounding the introduction of body-worn cameras for gardai, The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023, was signed into law on December 5th by President Higgins.The rollout of bodycams will start in Dublin city centre next spring.

McEntee told the Dáil “body-worn technology is important for the gardaí to protect themselves, to record scenes accurately and, when they are at the scene of a crime, to record what happens immediately afterwards,” she said.

“If they are in the midst of an incident such as the riots we saw two weeks ago, they would be able to accurately reflect through the cameras what is happening.”

“Just as there will be pilots for the body-worn cameras, we need to make sure any application of FRT is done in such a way that we can see how effective it is and whether any changes need to be made. That would include a pilot scheme as well. All of this is moving.

“It is positive and shows how technology, when monitored and put in place effectively, can support gardaí in their work and make sure they are as effective as possible in responding to crime.”

Related News

Trending Now