Tokyo Police

Criminals in Tokyo have one more thing to worry about now -- police are taking 3D mugshots.

The technique will help create a database which police hope will make it easier to identify criminals from CCTV footage. Traditional footage is of limited use when suspects' heads are tilted down or in poor lighting. The 3D camera will take images from three different directions whilst the face is lit up with striped lighting, creating a 3D effect.


According to police officers, 2D mugshots, which capture suspects from the front and side, are often hard to compare with images from CCTV. 3D models, however, can be manipulated and adjusted in order to create a more accurate comparison. "As we can identify the suspects more quickly and accurately, our arrest rate is expected to become greater," a senior police officer told The Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

A 3D camera will be fitted in all 102 police stations in Tokyo, with images being taken from April. The cameras were first used in Japan in 2001, but have only been trialled at regional headquarters -- according to the Mainichi newspaper, Tokyo's police force is the first to roll out the cameras across all stations.