Edmonton police have begun testing AI-enabled body cameras trained to identify roughly 7,000 individuals on a “high-risk” watch list, marking one of North America’s most significant deployments of facial recognition in frontline policing.
The pilot, developed with Axon Enterprise, comes six years after the body-camera giant halted work on facial recognition over ethical concerns raised by its own AI advisory board. A former chair of that board now warns the technology is advancing without adequate public scrutiny or independent evaluation. The trial is drawing national attention as agencies debate surveillance risks and evolving privacy expectations.
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