AI-powered police body cameras, once taboo, get tested on Canadian city's 'watch list' of faces

Original source: https://www.courthousenews.com/ai-powered-police-body-cameras-once-taboo-get-tested-on-canadian-citys-watch-list-of-faces/

Local snapshot (archived 2026-07-03): full-page PDF committed at sources/news/_archive/courthouse-news-ai-bodycam-watchlist/courthouse-news-ai-bodycam-watchlist.pdf.

Corroborating coverage of the EPS Axon FR bodycam proof-of-concept (Dec 2025). CONFIRMED.

• Dozens of EPS officers patrolled Edmonton in December with body cameras using AI to scan faces for "high-risk offenders."
• The facial-recognition software was trained to detect the faces of about 7,000 people on a watchlist, based on mugshots of people police say have serious criminal warrants.
• Potential AI matches sent for review by EPS officers trained in facial recognition. During the first phase, front-line officers were NOT notified even if human review supported a match.
• EPS = first police force in the world to use this Axon Enterprise AI product for FR-enabled bodycams.
• In 2019, Axon's own AI ethics board said such use "could not be ethically justified given the state of the technology," citing unequal performance across races, ethnicities, genders, and other identity groups.
• Note: distinct from and 5+ years after the 2020 Clearview AI affair. Cost of pilot not disclosed.