Facial recognition system a boost in fight against crime

Technology to help gardaí make accurate images of criminal suspects will be an invaluable tool for investigations, Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan has said.

The Evo-Fit system — which cost €11,000 and has been used for years by other police forces — allows witnesses to create a better likeness of suspects.

Along with other similar technology, the software has been credited with helping solve countless investigations. Since its introduction in mid-January, it has already been used to identify two suspects.

The Garda Commissioner said it was a welcome initiative that would be an invaluable investigative tool.

“It has shown its worth in other police services and An Garda Síochána has already seen its benefits in its first few weeks of use,” she said.

“It will also help victims of crime by making the identification process easier and simpler.”

Traditional photofit images of crime suspects relied on witnesses picking out features, such as eyes, nose, and mouth.

It had relatively low accuracy rates, with critics arguing that people recollect complete faces more than individual features.

Evo-Fit differs by allowing witnesses to select make-ups of entire faces that look similar to the suspect.

A Garda operative will then mould these together into a composite and help the witness to tweak the image until it bears a good resemblance.

The system has been shown to correctly identify suspects up to 74% of the time.

It is used by police forces across Britain, and in the United States, Israel, and Romania.

The new system cost in the region of €11,000 for software, installation and training, according to a Garda spokesman.