Cumbria Police Deploys Live Facial Recognition at Appleby Horse Fair — What Are Pyramid Rings

Cumbria Police used live facial recognition at Appleby Horse Fair for the first time this year, and that change arrived as thousands gathered in Cumbria for the annual fair. If you are asking what are pyramid rings, the practical answer here is that police have added cameras that can scan faces in real time while more than 200 officers work 24/7 over the weekend.

Appleby Horse Fair cameras

Det Supt Dan St Quintin said the high-tech cameras would help make the fair safer and a more enjoyable experience for everyone. He said, “The vast majority of the Gypsy Roma and traveller community would like live face recognition here because they feel safe.”

The fair draws tens of thousands of visitors every year. As many as an extra 50,000 people were expected in the town this weekend, which turns a local event into a major policing operation with constant patrols.

Billy Welch and the fair

Billy Welch said most of the Gypsy and traveller community did not mind the use of the technology at all. He said, “It’s just everywhere. It’s just a part of life now. And myself, personally, I’m not really bothered about it. The majority of Gypsies and travellers don’t mind it at all. And if you’ve done nothing wrong, well, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Welch also said, “Every major festival, every large gathering like Appleby, if you go through the airport, they’ve got facial recognition.”

Danny Jones on Appleby

Danny Jones, who came from Cardiff, said he first came to the fair 30 years ago. He said, “The atmosphere you got here, you can’t buy it. You’ve got to come here, and you’ve got to experience it.”

He also said, “They’re honourable people to deal with. I bought off them, I sold to them, friendly with them. I really enjoy it.”

The unresolved issue is how far the live facial recognition deployment will go at future fairs if the police treat this year’s trial-like use as a model for later events.