Locations
Lewisham, South East London
Description
The deployment of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology by Met Police officers in Southwark helped put a registered sex offender back behind bars.
LFR is an advanced technology where Met officers position a van equipped with cameras in a pre-agreed location in London.
These cameras capture live footage of people passing by and compare their faces against a database of wanted offenders. If a match is detected, the system generates an alert. An officer will then review the match and decide if they wish to speak with the individual.
On the afternoon of Friday, 10 January, a police van with LFR was operating in the Denmark Hill area, when cameras alerted officers to 73-year-old David Cheneler as being a registered sex offender. Upon being stopped by officers, he was found to be with a six-year-old girl.
Further checks confirmed he was in breach of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which prevented him from being alone with a child under the age of 14. He was also in possession of a lock knife that was hidden in the buckle of his belt. He was arrested and taken into custody.
Further enquiries from Met officers established Cheneler had picked the child up from school as a favour for her mother, which he’d also done on two previous occasions after building a relationship with them both over the course of a year.
This case is another example of how the Met’s use of LFR is protecting communities by helping officers take dangerous offenders off the streets of London.
The Met is a forerunner in using this technology as part of its commitment to make London safer by harnessing cutting-edge technology and data to identify and apprehend offenders who pose significant risks to our communities.