Rick Smith

Stories

From bans to bodycams: how police facial recognition is moving onto the street

Championing field trials of bodycam facial recognition while facing ethics and regulatory scrutiny

In December 2025, the Edmonton Police Service began testing Axon body cameras with third-party facial-recognition software. The watchlist contained 6,341 people flagged for risks like 'violent or assaultive,' 'armed and dangerous,' or 'high-risk offender,' plus 724 with serious warrants—roughly 7,000 faces. Officers didn't get real-time alerts; instead, footage was analyzed to test accuracy and workflows.

Updated May 10

Axon revives police facial recognition on bodycams with Edmonton pilot

New Capabilities

Driving Axon’s shift from a 2019 moratorium to real‑world facial recognition trials

Edmonton Police became the first North American force to put live facial recognition on officers' body cameras. In December 2025, they switched on a month-long pilot. The AI-enabled bodycams scan the faces of people officers encounter against a watch list of 6,341 individuals with safety flags and 724 people wanted on serious warrants.

Updated May 10

Notable Quotes

"By testing in real‑world conditions outside the U.S., we can gather independent insights, strengthen oversight frameworks, and apply those learnings to future evaluations, including within the United States." (blog post on Edmonton pilot, quoted by AP)([washingtonpost.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/07/ai-facial-recognition-axon-edmonton/145d079e-d35f-11f0-a93c-a869cf73ebd6_story.html?utm_source=openai))

from From bans to bodycams: how police facial recognition is moving onto the street · Updated May 10

“By testing in real‑world conditions outside the U.S., we can gather independent insights, strengthen oversight frameworks, and apply those learnings to future evaluations, including within the United States.”

from Axon revives police facial recognition on bodycams with Edmonton pilot · Updated May 10

Axon will not be commercializing face‑matching products on our body cameras at this time. (2019 ethics board blog post)

from Axon revives police facial recognition on bodycams with Edmonton pilot · Updated May 10