Irish Examiner view: We need more gardaí but facial recognition could help the force do its job
An Garda Síochána could learn from our nearest neighbours: London's Metropolitan Police is set to double its use of live facial recognition technology for crime detection and prevention. Picture: Metropolitan Police/PA
Many claims are made to support the widespread introduction of facial recognition technology (FRT). Mostly they relate to policing and the efficiencies which could be gained in an era when An Garda Síochána continuously finds it difficult to fill vacancies.
This was underlined this week when it was revealed that 7,000 fewer drug searches were carried out last year, compared to 2022. They dropped 15% for the entire country, but by as much as 43% in Clare/Tipperary and 34% in Cork City.
