Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has confirmed there were no significant police incidents at Manchester Carnival over the weekend, with live facial recognition technology leading to 34 alerts and 11 arrests.
Event and Policing
Tens of thousands attended the Caribbean carnival at Alexandra Park in Whalley Range on August 8 and 9, an event dating back to 1971 featuring a parade, live music, food stalls, and funfairs. GMP said it held 'multiple meetings' with stakeholders and partners to 'provide the most appropriate support for the carnival' and 'address any issues raised'.
Live Facial Recognition (LFR) was deployed at the event, a technology the force has used recently at town centres, football matches, the Manchester Marathon, the BRIT Awards, and the MOBOs. The system scans faces and alerts officers 'where necessary', resulting in 34 alerts and 11 arrests for offences including breach of a sexual harm prevention order, fraud, failing to appear at court, and theft.
Alerts and Outcomes
The remaining 23 alerts included eleven Registered Sex Offenders and five people known to regularly carry knives. A missing child was also identified through the technology, the force said. Images are deleted within 24 hours, with the only misidentification since deployment last October being a white female at the Manchester Marathon.
Assistant Chief Constable Rick Jackson, Gold Commander for the Carnival, called the event 'a fantastic success from a policing perspective'. He said: "The overwhelming majority of people enjoyed themselves sensibly and safely. A lot of policing work goes into making sure people stay safe during events of this nature, and I would like to thank each officer involved for their hard work."
He added: "As with any event involving such a huge amount of people, a fraction of people were arrested for various reasons – with our officers quickly on hand to deal with situations where necessary. LFR has been a great tool in identifying everything from wanted criminals to missing people, doing so accurately and without any misidentifications. By working closely with Carnival organisers and the local community, we hope to continue building stronger links going forward, to ensure that we can provide the best possible policing service."
