The Met looks into brand recognition technology

Story link: The Met looks into brand recognition technology by Jan Harris

The Metropolitan Police is considering the use of technology from software company, OmniPerception, which could be used to identify branded logos on clothing, on images captured by CCTV.

Tracking suspects by distinctive clothing could significantly reduce the amount of time spent scanning video footage, which is currently done manually.

It would be of particular use to police when a suspect’s face is obscured by a hoodie, or hat, and could help police to identify a suspect by the particular brand they tend to wear, or a difference in personal style.

The idea is being considered by Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville, who is in charge of the Visual Images, Identifications and Detections Office roll-out programme, which hopes to transform the analysis of CCTV into a forensic discipline such as DNA analysis.

OmniPerception’s brand recognition technology is already used to successfully identify company logos in TV broadcasts of sports events, even on Formula One race cars speeding past at 200mph.