Malaysians may need to get used to being on camera more often, as the Malaysian Auxiliary Police are now integrating body-worn cameras into their kit. These cameras come complete with facial recognition software from Chinese company YITU Technology.
The introduction of the technology comes through Auxiliary Force Sdn Bhd, a member of Royal Malaysia Police Cooperative. A private company that administers and deploys personnel to companies that have received approval for their own auxiliary police force. For the moment, this covers places like I-City, ERM, and the Hatten Group.
YITU’s facial recognition cameras being deployed do not operate in real time, and are incapable of identifying people on the spot. Instead, it would appear that they function similar to the body-cameras worn by the American police force. Allowing investigators to review any incidents at a later date.
That said, Lance Wang, YITU Technology’s General Manager of Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau, has every intention of introducing such technology to Malaysia in the future. Although the timeline for this happening is unknown.
At the moment this technology has only been adopted by Malaysian auxiliary police, who have limited investigative and law enforcement powers. It has yet to be extended to the Royal Malaysian Police, although that would perhaps require a much larger undertaking from the government. And is only a matter of time.
