KUALA LUMPUR: Facial recognition technology today is increasingly being used by law enforcement agencies, banks, hotels, airport and now convenience stores to detect and arrest criminals quickly.
Kuala Lumpur Police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said by the installation of facial recognition closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in convenience stores the faces of criminals can be clearly recorded to trace their identities.
“Criminal activities often occur in convenience stores, especially those that operate 24 hours (before the implementation of the Movement Control Order or MCO) involving robbery and theft.
“The police welcome the installation of face recognition CCTVs in every shop because crime can happen at any time,” he told reporters at the launch of the facial recognition CCTV system at KK Mart, Taman Desa Petaling here, yesterday.
He said the use of facial recognition CCTV system could also help police track down individuals reported missing.
“A missing person can be traced if he enters a convenience store that has this face recognition camera through pictures obtained from family members of the missing individual,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mazlan added that a total of 81 robbery cases involving convenience stores were recorded from January to July last year compared to only 44 cases for the same period this year.
He said the drop in robbery cases this year was likely due to the implementation of the MCO since March.
Meanwhile, KK Group of Companies Executive Chairman Datuk Seri Dr KK Chai said 100 KK Super Mart branches had been equipped with face recognition CCTVs nationwide at an estimated cost of RM800,000.
He said the installation of this type of CCTV cameras at other branches of the business network which has more than 450 branches will be implemented in stages until the end of this year. — Bernama
