Good afternoon,
This week we have carried out several operations in the City Centre to target crime and disorder. On Thursday we deployed Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology in the City, marking the first use of the LFR van in the Cheshire..
The deployment aims to support the ongoing work of officers in identifying individuals who are wanted by police, outstanding suspects, or those who pose a risk of harm to the public. LFR allows officers to be alerted in real-time if a person on a specific, pre approved watchlist passes through the area being scanned.
During the deployment, officers were deployed to speak with members of the public, and local businesses to explain the technology, listen to concerns, and offer reassurance about the safeguards in place.
Strict privacy, data protection and human rights safeguards will be in place for every LFR deployment. Only images of individuals on a pre approved watchlist are used by the system, and any biometric data of passers-by who do not match a person on that list is automatically and immediately deleted. Officers reviewing any potential matches must also confirm the identity before any action is taken.
The operation was successful, and we received a considerable amount of positive feedback from the public about the use of the equipment. It was good to have a number of partners attend the deployment to see the use of the technology first hand. We intend to conduct further operations of this nature in the future.
We have also been targeting the supply of drugs in the City, by executing search warrants at two addresses. Such activity demonstrates that we will not tolerate this activity in Chester and will take action to target those involved. We will continue to execute search warrants on a regular basis. Operations to tackle drug supply rely on information passed to us by the public. If anyone wishes to pass information to us anonymously about drug supply or any form of criminality I encourage them to contact Crimestoppers either online Giving information anonymously | Crimestoppers or by ringing 0800 555 111
On Saturday we carried out a Passive Drug operation where dogs were deployed to identify people carrying drugs. This operation resulted in thirty five Stop Searches being carried out with six Community Resolutions being issued, a Caution and one individual being arrested for Possession With Intent to Supply drugs. Such operations not only detect people carrying drugs but also act as a deterrent to others who may consider coming into Chester with drugs. We have further Passive Drug Dog operations planned. We strive to make Chester a hostile place for criminals.
We continue to place updates on the work we are doing on our Social Media accounts. If you are on Facebook please follow us. On our Chester Police page we report on the activity we’re carrying out and have appeals for information relating to incidents that have taken place.
We utilise Residents Voice to identify the issues that are causing the public concern. As the survey is anonymous we try to feedback on social media the work we are doing to dela with these issues. Please continue to complete these surveys. Whilst it is called a Residents Voice survey, it is equally important we hear from those who work in the City, so this is open to everyone to complete. If you have completed it before, please complete it on a regular basis so we are kept up to date with the current issues that are causing concern.
The link to the survey is below, and should only take a few minutes to complete.
Resident’s voice | Cheshire Constabulary
Kind regards,
James
James Wilson – Inspector – Chester Local Policing Unit
Chester Police Station| Blacon Avenue |Chester| Cheshire | CH1 5BD
Phone: 01606 364666 | Email: james.wilson@cheshire.pnn.police.uk
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