Live facial recognition (LFR) technology, which scans faces in real time against police watchlists, has been deployed by 13 police forces in England and Wales since 2020. The Metropolitan Police in London is the largest user, having scanned over 6.6 million faces since April 2023. The Labour government has described the technology as the biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA matching and has announced 40 new LFR-equipped vans for town centres across England and Wales.
LFR cameras capture biometric data from passing faces and use AI to compare them with watchlists of individuals wanted for arrest or under probation. When a potential match is found, officers on the ground receive an alert with the suspect's name and alleged crime. Unmatched faces are permanently deleted. However, critics raise concerns over data privacy, racial bias, and civil liberties.
Data from various forces shows mixed results. The Met has made 44 arrests from 1.7 million scans in 2026 so far. South Wales Police scanned over 230,000 faces in early 2025, leading to five arrests. Essex Police made 117 arrests from 2.2 million scans in 2024-2025. Surrey Police scanned 60,000 residents in 2026 with two arrests. Notably, Northamptonshire Police scanned nearly one million faces at the 2023 British Grand Prix with zero alerts.
Accuracy has historically been poorer for minority ethnic groups, though improvements are reported. A March study of Essex Police deployments found correct identification rates of about 50%, with incorrect identifications extremely rare. However, the system was more likely to correctly identify men than women, and black participants were identified more accurately than other ethnic groups. A London Assembly study found over half of deployments occurred in areas with higher-than-average black populations.
Police forces face oversight from bodies including the Information Commissioner, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the courts, which recently backed the Met's use of LFR. Supporters argue the technology streamlines police work and aids crime prevention, while opponents warn of potential civil liberties violations and biased outcomes.
