Eight police forces across central England have joined up to use a
state-of-the art facial recognition system in the hunt for
criminals who prey on elderly and vulnerable people.
The "distraction burglars" pose as workmen or other callers to
trick people out of cash totalling millions of pounds each year.
They often travel large distances, making it difficult for police
to track them.
The system, designed by police IT specialist ABM, allows forces to
build a common database supporting Operation Liberal, a two-year
initiative funded by the Home Office.
An incident management system (IMS) enables forces to share and
analyse intelligence information.
IMS works in conjunction with a computerised Profit photofit system
that helps victims to give an accurate picture of the criminal,
while Profile facial recognition software allows the police to
match the photofit against pictures of known criminals.
A crime mapping system entitled Prophecy is used to predict where
the criminals will strike next.