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Super-recognisers (The One Show, BBC 1 Scotland): Dr Josh P Davis (University of Greenwich)
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33,867Views
2013Jul 31
Could you be a super-recogniser? Why not try our 5 minutes test to find out (link here): https://www.superrecognisers.com/take... This is a video extract from the One Show (BBC1, 7PM), from 9th April 2013 It was filmed at the Old Naval College in Greenwich, the site of a University of Greenwich campus. The copyright of this video is owned by BBC Scotland. It was loaded on YouTube for educational purposes by Professor Josh P Davis in 2013 (University of Greenwich) who features prominently in the clip. Note – the information loaded on YouTube about this clip was updated on 9 June 2024, out of respect, after hearing about the death of the BBC’s interviewer, Michael Mosley. Information was somewhat limited, while URL links were out of date. Video footage The clip first features BBC interviewer, Michael Mosley speaking to PC Gary Collins (Metropolitan Police Service, MPS), a super-recogniser with exceptionally good face recognition ability, who from CCTV footage, identified about 180 suspects alleged to have been involved in the London Riots of August 2011. At the time, Gary was the most successful super-recogniser in the MPS (and almost certainly the world). In total, 600 rioters were identified by about 20 super-recognisers. Another 3,400 rioters, mostly one-offs were identified by police and members of the public. (Note that the super-recognisers had been making multiple identifications of suspects, before the riots.). These results contrast with the fact that only one suspect was identified by the best face recognition technology in the world at the time. Today's systems would perform more effectively, but given the placement of cameras on poles, the night time filming, the prevalence of smoke from fires, and the covering of rioter faces, super-recognisers would probably still outperform the technology. The technology works best with high-quality, close-up images taken with the target facing the camera. Dr Josh P Davis (University of Greenwich) was also interviewed by Michael Mosley, as at the time, he was researching the abilities of the super-recognisers in the MPS (Davis et al., 2016). For the research started in April 2011, a few months prior to the riots, police super-recognisers and controls completed a series of four face recognition tests. A high proportion of super-recognisers produced high scores on the tests, confirming their superior skills. Gary Collins was the highest overall scorer on the tests. Demonstration experiment - confused? This will help Much of the video is dedicated to a surprise (to Gary and Michael) "demonstration experiment" with the aim of demonstrating the skill levels of Gary Collins. Five people were asked to draw attention to themselves in a café, where Michael and Gary had a cup of coffee each. Once they left the café, and without being warned in advance about this, Gary and Michael were taken to view an identity parade containing ten people. Michael stated that he thought his own face recognition ability was quite good. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that Gary only outperformed Michael by 2 out of 7. Michaël Mosley = 4 out of 7 correct Gary Collins: 6 out of 7 correct Note, that a “Improving the Use of CCTV: Lessons learnt from the Riots 2011 Workshop was held at New Scotland Yard, London in September 2013. Josh Davis gave a presentation on “Super-Recognisers in the Metropolitan Police”. Mark Rowley (Assistant Commissioner), who in 2022 was appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, delivered the welcome speech. He mentioned super-recognisers and his hope that their benefits to policing would be fully investigated. A full-time super-recogniser unit was established in 2015. This unit provides a model of best practice that has been replicated by more than 40 police forces worldwide. More information about the research described here can be found on Professor Josh P Davis’s private website: www.superrecognisers.com Magazine articles Davis, J. P., Lander, K., & Jansari, A. (2013). I never forget a face. The Psychologist, 26(10), 726-729. (read here - open access) Davis, J. P. (2013). Super-recognisers in the Metropolitan Police. IFSEC Global, 15 October 2013 (download pre-print here) Report of the results of empirical tests on MPS police officers Davis, J. P., Lander, K., Evans, R., & Jansari, A. (2016). Investigating predictors of superior face recognition ability in police super-recognisers. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30(6), 827–840. DOI: 10.1002/acp.3260 (Download free pre-print here: https://bit.ly/dlej2016) In depth chapter Davis, J. P. (2020). CCTV and the super-recognisers. In C. Stott, B. Bradford, M. Radburn, and L. Savigar-Shaw (Eds.), Making an Impact on Policing and Crime: Psychological Research, Policy and Practice (pp 34-67). London: Routledge. ISBN 9780815353577. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429326592 (Download pre-print here: https://bit.ly/34Phwjm)

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Dr Josh P Davis

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