A video alert and secondary confirmation system and method for detecting and verifying a person of interest is disclosed. The system and method include selecting an access way for detecting persons of interest. Independent video cameras are placed along the access way and have varying thresholds for identifying persons on a wanted list. Video alert modules operate in tandem with overlapping fields of view at a high threshold matching level. Each video camera is linked to a video alert module. Faces that are above a set threshold are displayed on a video alert module. A determination of match or no match is made. If a match appears to be made, a security team will be alerted to approach the individual who is an apparent match and take a closeup photograph that is analyzed to verify the match through a secondary confirmation.