Police can now use a surveillance camera mounted at a road intersection to provide an image of a driver in a moving vehicle. The driver’s face can then be matched with photographs in a police database. The facial recognition technology can be used to identify a suspect or an escapee, or it can be used to identify someone driving without a license or on a suspended or revoked license.

How Facial Recognition Cameras Work

To capture images of the faces of drivers in moving vehicles, surveillance cameras must have higher pixel resolution than those used to capture non-moving vehicles and pedestrians. Police can use ultra HD or 4K surveillance cameras to zoom into a spot without losing resolution. Some of the surveillance cameras come with a night-vision mode.

Other Uses

The government can use facial recognition surveillance cameras to identify terrorists in large crowds. Airports use the technology. Now, drivers of moving vehicles can be recognized. What’s next? Some businesses are using facial recognition surveillance cameras to spot shoplifters.

When shoppers enter stores, commercial wireless security cameras capture their facial images. The images are then compared with photographs in an existing database of known shoplifters. If a match is found, an alert is sent to an in-store loss prevention associate’s smartphone. The associate may contact the police or ask the person to leave the store.

Privacy Risks

Are facial recognition surveillance cameras going too far and invading a person’s privacy? The use of facial recognition surveillance cameras is not that big a step from surveillance cameras that routinely film people as they enter stores and while they shop. The risk of misidentification from the use of facial recognition cameras is slight. The database used to make matches only contains pictures of certain individuals; for example, only known shoplifters.

Take Advantage of the Technology

Businesses should check with a security camera installation service in Atlanta to see what technology is available. As the use of facial recognition surveillance cameras increase, businesses need to stay on top of what their competitors are doing.