Devon and Cornwall Police use facial recognition technology

Police have used live facial recognition for the first time in Devon.

The technology, which scans faces in crowds from a live camera feed and checks them against a watchlist of wanted people, was used in Exmouth town centre at the end of August, officers said.

Sgt Angela Galasso, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said the technology was probably "scanning far more faces than a police officer ever could", adding: "It's a tool. One of the many in our armour which help us to do our job."

Advocacy group Liberty said it wanted a law in place with "safeguards which protect everybody".