Seven people have been arrested thanks to facial recognition technology used in Southend over four days.

The deployment of vans equipped with the technology - between Thursday and Sunday - followed a machete fight last Sunday, which has seen four arrests.

Over the course of four days, the technology flagged a total of 14 positive alerts which led to the seven arrests.

These arrests included those connected to aggravated burglary, a domestic assault, assault of an emergency worker and shoplifting.

Essex Police superintendent Leigh Norris said: “This was a really positive deployment and we’ve been able to bring multiple suspects into custody as a result.

“The deployment of our live facial recognition vans also provides a fantastic opportunity to engage with the public and our officers enjoyed speaking to the public and explaining how it works.

“This technology has been used to great effect so far and you can expect to see us utilise it more in the coming months.”

This is the latest in a campaign by Essex Police to bring suspects into custody.

Officers monitor systems from inside the vanOfficers monitor systems from inside the van (Image: George Pizani)

Since launching the technology a month ago, there have been 30 positive alerts and zero incorrect alerts. These alerts have led to a total of 16 arrests.

Supt Norris added: “The technology utilises CCTV camera feeds to LFR software to scan faces against a predetermined database or ‘watch list’ of people of interest.

“The scanning of an image takes less than a second. The data or image of those not on the watchlist is automatically and immediately deleted and not stored.

“When there is a positive match, appropriate action will be taken by officers on the ground to confirm ID and then assess what the next action is to be taken.

“We publish details of each deployment in advance and also seek scrutiny from partners such as Independent Advisory Groups to ensure our accountability.”