Western Australia Police have come under fire after footage emerged of officers stopping a man in Perth's CBD whose face had been flagged by a new AI-powered facial recognition camera system as belonging to someone with a criminal record dating back almost a decade. The trial, running since June across parts of Perth and Fremantle, has alarmed many Australians who fear it marks the beginning of a broader surveillance state, particularly given the man was not under arrest, had no outstanding warrant, and was simply going about his day when he was approached.

Footage filmed by independent journalist Jesse Noakes showed the man, whose identity was concealed, explaining that he was used to being flagged despite his offence being nearly ten years old. WA Police data shows the cameras scanned around 130,000 faces in the trial's first week, checking them against a watchlist of roughly 4,000 people, which produced 33 alerts and 18 arrests. The technology is also spreading into the retail sector, with Bunnings cleared by a tribunal to use similar systems provided customers are properly notified, while Woolworths and Coles announced trials in August, though none of the companies involved has confirmed plans for permanent rollout.