MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. A facial recognition system to identify wanted criminals will be launched in the nation’s capital next year, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin told a session reviewing measures to prevent crime in the Russian metropolis.

CCTV cameras will be fully replaced in the city with state-of-the-art technology, the mayor said on Monday. "In order to make the city safer, we will soon get to a new type of information technology for our law enforcement agencies. This year we have already replaced more than 40% of CCTV cameras with more advanced analogues, and we will for the first time create a system of facial recognition that will identify wanted offenders," the mayor said.

Dozens of criminals on the run have been nabbed in initial trials carried out in several neighborhoods. "I think this system will eventually make the city simply inaccessible for criminals," the mayor stressed.

City police Chief Oleg Baranov emphasized the importance of the "Safe City" system, parts of which have already been installed in different neighborhoods of the capital. He said the system has made it possible "to solve 27 murders, 77 crimes where grievous bodily harm was inflicted, 165 hold-ups and more than 300 cases of theft."

The mayor also stressed the importance of updating local precincts in order to combat crime in the city. "Over the past few years, we have repaired and rebuilt 75 local police precincts, we have constructed ten new buildings," the mayor stressed. "Within the next few years, 25 new police precincts and buildings for other needs of city management will be built," the mayor said, stressing that the city will be offering all kinds of assistance to law enforcement agencies.