"The van will be used across Devon and Cornwall to support policing operations. "The use of live facial recognition has been tried and tested elsewhere, and I am pleased to see our communities here in Devon and Cornwall benefiting from this technology." The force already uses retrospective facial recognition to identify suspects after incidents have occurred, by comparing still images to a reference database. However, it does not currently use operator-initiated facial recognition, which involves comparing a photograph of a person’s face taken on a mobile phone against the pre-determined watchlist. Under a section giving further detail about project on its website, Devon and Cornwall Police state: "Historically we know that there have been issues with facial recognition technology and a potential gender and ethnic bias.