Facial recognition software, surveillance helping police track United Healthcare CEO’s assassin
KILLING STILL UNCLEAR. AS YOU CAN SEE IN THOSE PHOTOS, POLICE IN NEW YORK ARE USING THE LATEST SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY TO TRACK DOWN THEIR SUSPECT. SOME SIMILAR RESOURCES ARE WORKING RIGHT HERE IN OUR AREA. OUR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, TERRI PARKER, HAS A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TOOLS BEING USED IN OUR AREA. TERRI TODD, POLICE IN NEW YORK DO HAVE THE MOST SOPHISTICATED CAMERA AND FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE SYSTEMS THERE ARE, AND YOU CAN SEE HOW QUICKLY THEY WERE ABLE TO HONE IN ON A POSSIBLE SUSPECT, RELEASING THOSE PICTURES TODAY, LOCAL POLICE ALSO USED MUCH OF THE SAME TECHNOLOGY TO SOLVE CRIMES HERE. HERE’S HOW IT WORKS. POLICE FIRST USED SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS TO SEE THE ACTUAL SHOOTING OF BRIAN THOMPSON, AND THEN THEY TURNED TO THE HUNDREDS OF OTHER CAMERAS ALONG THAT MANHATTAN STREET TO SEE THE SUSPECT RUNNING FROM THE CRIME SCENE, THEN GETTING ON AN E-BIKE AND PEDALING AWAY INTO CENTRAL PARK. THEY QUICKLY FOUND IMAGES FROM A NEARBY STARBUCKS THAT SHOWED HIM MORE CLOSELY. STILL WEARING A MASK, THOUGH THAT’S WHEN POLICE CAN TURN TO FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE. ALL POLICE DEPARTMENTS HAVE IT. EVEN HERE. THEY PUT IN A PICTURE AND THE SOFTWARE SCANS THROUGH DRIVER’S LICENSE PICTURES AND MUG SHOTS TO SEE IF THERE IS A MATCH. RETIRED FBI AGENT JOHN MCVAY TELLS ME. IT’S INCREDIBLY HELPFUL, BUT POLICE ALSO HAVE TO USE OLD FASHIONED METHODS, TOO. THEY’RE GOING TO RUN THROUGH THOSE. AND, YOU KNOW, LOOK, YOU YOU SEE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME THAT KIND OF LOOK ALIKE, YOU KNOW, SAME KIND OF FACIAL FEATURES. BUT YOU KNOW, THE COMPUTER PROGRAM MAY BE ABLE TO LIMIT IT DOWN BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THIS PERSON’S GOT A MARK HERE OR THEIR EYES A LITTLE DIFFERENT, BUT YOU’RE STILL GOING TO, YOU KNOW, EVEN WITH THE FACIAL RECOGNITION, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE THE FACES SHOWN. I COULDN’T EVEN IMAGINE HOW MANY PEOPLE, HOW MANY PEOPLE IT’S GOING TO PULL OUT. POLICE GOT A HIT. ANOTHER WAY. SOMEONE RECOGNIZED THE STARBUCKS PHOTO AND REPORTEDLY CALLED POLICE WITH A TIP THAT THE SAME GUY HAD BEEN STAYING AT A NEARBY HOSTEL AND THAT’S WHERE THEY DISCOVERED THE NEW PICTURES OF WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE SAME MAN WITH NO MASK MAKING IT. NOW EASIER TO IDENTIFY HIM THROUGH TIPS OR FACIAL RECOGNITION. MCVAY SAYS POLICE ARE GOING THROUGH ALSO HUNDREDS OF SURVEILLANCE CAMERA CLIPS, TRYING TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHERE THE SUSPECT CAME FROM BEFORE THE MURDER AND THEN WHERE HE WENT AND THEY’RE ALSO COMBING THROUGH RECORDS OF PEOPLE WHO MADE COMPLAINTS AGAINST UNITED HEALTH CARE AS POLICE SUSPECT THE KILLER MIGHT HAVE HAD A GRUDGE BASED ON DENIAL OF COVERAGE BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY GIANT TERR
Facial recognition software, surveillance helping police track United Healthcare CEO’s assassin
Retired FBI agent John MacVeigh says all police departments use this technology plus classic detective work.
Updated: 11:07 AM EST Dec 7, 2024
New York City police are using the most sophisticated surveillance camera and facial recognition systems there are and were quickly able to hone in on a possible suspect — releasing pictures of him Thursday — one day after the midtown shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.Retired FBI Special Agent John MacVeigh says police are using those tools but also old-fashioned methods, such as combing through records, videotapes, phone tips and more.MacVeigh says facial recognition is a tool used by all law enforcement, but it has its limits.”If you get video from a store, they put it into that facial recognition program. And it pops out potential suspects, but you still have to narrow it down. It may look like six people or something, and they’re going to have to go knock on six doors and see,” said MacVeigh. Police first used surveillance cameras to see the actual shooting of Thompson. Then, they turned to the hundreds of other cameras along the street to see the suspect running from the crime scene, getting on an e-bike and pedaling into Central Park, where he disappeared.Police then quickly found images from a nearby Starbucks that showed the suspect more closely, although they were still wearing a mask.MacVeigh said that’s when facial recognition software can help, as police feed the picture into a database that uses computers to compare hundreds of markers on the picture or video to mug shots and driver’s license photos.”The computer program may be able to limit it down because, you know, this person’s got a mark here or their eyes a little different,” said MacVeigh.In this case, the police got a hit another way. While canvassing area stores, they found surveillance of what seemed to be the suspect earlier that morning, still wearing a mask over his face.However, someone reportedly recognized the man and called the police with a tip that the same person had been staying at a nearby hostel.At that hostel, police discovered new pictures of what seemed to be the same man with no mask, making it easier to identify him through tips or facial recognition.MacVeigh said police are going through hundreds of surveillance camera clips, trying to find out more about where the suspect came from and where he went.They are also likely combing through records of people who made complaints against United Healthcare, as police suspect the killer might have had a grudge based on a denial of coverage by the insurance company.Top headlines:
New York City police are using the most sophisticated surveillance camera and facial recognition systems there are and were quickly able to hone in on a possible suspect — releasing pictures of him Thursday — one day after the midtown shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Retired FBI Special Agent John MacVeigh says police are using those tools but also old-fashioned methods, such as combing through records, videotapes, phone tips and more.
MacVeigh says facial recognition is a tool used by all law enforcement, but it has its limits.
“If you get video from a store, they put it into that facial recognition program. And it pops out potential suspects, but you still have to narrow it down. It may look like six people or something, and they’re going to have to go knock on six doors and see,” said MacVeigh.
Police first used surveillance cameras to see the actual shooting of Thompson. Then, they turned to the hundreds of other cameras along the street to see the suspect running from the crime scene, getting on an e-bike and pedaling into Central Park, where he disappeared.
Police then quickly found images from a nearby Starbucks that showed the suspect more closely, although they were still wearing a mask.
MacVeigh said that’s when facial recognition software can help, as police feed the picture into a database that uses computers to compare hundreds of markers on the picture or video to mug shots and driver’s license photos.
“The computer program may be able to limit it down because, you know, this person’s got a mark here or their eyes a little different,” said MacVeigh.
In this case, the police got a hit another way. While canvassing area stores, they found surveillance of what seemed to be the suspect earlier that morning, still wearing a mask over his face.
However, someone reportedly recognized the man and called the police with a tip that the same person had been staying at a nearby hostel.
At that hostel, police discovered new pictures of what seemed to be the same man with no mask, making it easier to identify him through tips or facial recognition.
MacVeigh said police are going through hundreds of surveillance camera clips, trying to find out more about where the suspect came from and where he went.
They are also likely combing through records of people who made complaints against United Healthcare, as police suspect the killer might have had a grudge based on a denial of coverage by the insurance company.
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