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In the first few months of the pilot program, more than 100 wanted individuals have been arrested. Live Facial Recognition (LFR) Camera are installed on street furniture.
Since October, LFR cameras have been fixed to structure exist Croydonand their information is monitored remotely, allowing officers to deploy without the use of vans.
this Metropolitan Police The pilot project has so far resulted in the arrest of 103 people, a third of whom were arrested for crimes involving violence against women and girls, it said.
Also arrested were a woman who had been on the run for more than 20 years and was wanted for failing to appear in court over an assault in 2004; a man wanted on suspicion of kidnapping; and a sex offender suspected of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
Since the start of 2024, the Met has used LFR to remove more than 1,700 offenders from London’s streets.
Police have praised its “impact and success” but the technology has faced criticism, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) last year describing the Metropolitan Police’s policy on the use of real-time facial recognition technology as “unlawful”.
The equality watchdog said rules and safeguards for use of the technology by Britain’s largest police force were “inadequate” and its use at protests could have a “chilling effect” on individual rights.
In response, the force argued its use was “both lawful and proportionate and plays a key role in keeping Londoners safe”.
Campaign groups have also opposed the technology, with civil liberties group Big Brother Watch claiming “facial recognition surveillance” is turning the country into an “open prison”.
In December, ministers seeking to strengthen police use of facial recognition technology to fight crime launched a 10-week consultation on how to regulate the technology and protect people’s privacy.
The government has also proposed setting up a regulator to oversee the police’s use of facial recognition, biometrics and other tools and is gathering views on what powers it should have.
Lindsey Chiswick, national director of the Metropolitan Police and LFR, said: “The increased deployment of LFR in London’s crime hotspots is driven by its proven impact and success – more than 1,700 dangerous criminals have been taken off London’s streets since the start of 2024, including those wanted for rape and child abuse.
“That’s why we’re trying a new innovative pilot Croydon. It allows us to explore different ways of using facial recognition by operating remotely more effectively.
“The number of arrests we have made in just 13 deployments shows that the technology is already having an impact and helping to make Croydon safer. Public support remains strong, with 85% of Londoners supporting the use of LFR to keep them safe.”
According to the Met, LFR cameras in Croydon are only activated when police are present and deployed.
Police said Croydon was chosen because it is a “crime hotspot” and there are no plans to expand the scheme to other areas.
The deployment of LFR in Croydon has resulted in 249 arrests since the start of 2024, of which 193 were charged or cautioned.
In November, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Hampshire Police forces launched a new fleet of LFR vans in an expanded pilot scheme, joining the Metropolitan Police, South Wales Police and Essex Police.
The Home Office spent £6.6 million last year to evaluate and adopt the technology, including £3.9 million to create a national facial matching service.