QCPD to try out machine that sees through criminals' disguises

A European company has offered the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) to try a machine that will be able to recognize criminals, even those in disguise, in public places.

Senior Superintendent Federico Laciste Jr., QCPD deputy director for operations, said the firm has offered the city police a free trial to help them decide whether to avail of its services.

Laciste refused to divulge the name of the company but said it made the offer after QCPD officials visited the facilities of another company in Germany in October.

The delegation was led by QCPD director Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula upon the invitation of House sergeant-at-arms General Horacio Lactao to check on security equipment that could be installed at the House of Representatives to prevent a repeat of the Batasan bombing.

Laciste said the machine being offered by the European company for trial could be installed in public places such as bus and train terminals and malls.

“The machine is really small and inconspicuous… you would think it’s just one of those posts or booths at the terminals,” Laciste said in a recent interview.

But the best thing about the machine, according to Laciste, is that it can recognize the facial features of criminals that are on the rogues’ gallery of the police.

He said even if a person disguises himself, the machine could still recognize facial features similar to those of the people in its database.

“It (machine) has a fast (system of) face recognition... It has a database with the list and photos of the criminals wanted by the police,” Laciste said.

The machines are also connected to police offices, so authorities will be quickly alerted once a criminal is spotted in any public place, Laciste said.

According to Laciste, the QCPD is still studying the proposal to check on any possible legal impediment in availing itself of the offer for a free trial of the gadget.

“It still has no bidding requirement since we are not spending anything for this trial,” Laciste said.