Denmark police deploy facial recognition to fight Swedish gang violence

The Danish police will rely on facial recognition to tackle the flood of gang violence that is spilling over the border from neighboring Sweden.

The technology will be deployed to curb the increasing number of violent crimes and gun shootings in Denmark’s capital of Copenhagen, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard and Denmark’s national police chief Thorkild Fogde announced on Monday.

Police will not only apply facial recognition but also software that can break into encrypted messages. Hummelgaard added that the country will introduce legal changes to permit this as soon as possible, according to Euro News.

“It’s about technology, about digital tools, the dark web. The technology that is at our disposal. There is a whole catalog of technical tools to use,” Fogde told reporters.

Denmark has also vowed to pressure Sweden to contain cross-border incursions from Swedish gang members.

Sweden has been experiencing a flood of gang-related attacks, including firearms and explosives, leading the Scandinavian country to crown itself with the title of highest per capita gun violence rate in the European Union. Around 62,000 persons in Sweden are linked to criminal gangs, according to estimates from local authorities.

Swedish conservative and right-leaning parties have been working on bolstering biometric surveillance, including monitoring from traffic stations and drones. In December, the government kicked off an inquiry to expand police powers in using camera surveillance, including facial recognition.