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Facial recognition, a new tool in the Danish police crime-fighting kit, Source: Depositphotos

Danish police to employ facial recognition against gangs

Danish police to employ facial recognition against gangs

Almost as reliable as a fingerprint scan

Following a meeting with the Justice Minister, the Danish Police announced that it plans to use facial recognition technology in its fight against crime and gang violence that has been plaguing Copenhagen this year. The meeting was prompted by a sharp increase in cases of shootings and violent crimes in Copenhagen.

The two officials heading the Ministry and the Police, Peter Hummelgaard and Thorkild Fogde, respectively, spoke at a press conference saying that the use of facial recognition would greatly ease the work of identifying criminals from videos.

"It is possible to quickly scan that object or face with this digital tool, and to go through tens of thousands of hours of video and search for the target. By doing so, we could, in the best case, prevent an incident or at least find the suspect more quickly," explained Peter Hummelgaard, quoted by Euronews.

The police chief, for his part, described the technology as being almost as reliable as fingerprint scans.

This summer has been a hot one in terms of crime in Copenhagen

The increase in crime has been linked to Swedish gang warfare happening next door, which spilt over to Copenhagen when Danish organized crime groups began hiring Swedish teenagers to do assassination jobs. The reason is that those under 18 do not face the same harsh sentences as adults do in Denmark.

According to official figures, there have been 25 episodes since April where young Swedes have been hired by Danes to commit crimes in Denmark. Most of the violence happens in Copenhagen and its suburbs.

The aim of the press conference was also to call on politicians in the Danish parliament to pass legislation that would allow the use of facial recognition, even though some parties oppose it.

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