Facial recognition on London lampposts leads to an arrest every 34 minutes
London police have begun mounting live facial recognition cameras to lampposts which, when in use, result in an arrest being made every 34 minutes.
The Metropolitan Police has praised the effectiveness of its new pilot programme in Croydon, which saw more than 100 wanted criminals arrested with the aid of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) cameras mounted on fixed street furniture.
The pilot scheme allows officers to run LFR deployments without the need for a van in the area, drastically improving the efficiency of the technology.
The Met said that an arrest was made on average every 34 minutes when these LFR cameras were in use.
Under this pilot scheme, which is designed to assess the effectiveness of remote LFR deployments, these cameras are monitored remotely but otherwise operated in the same way as van-based deployments.
LFR cameras are only activated when officers are present and conducting a deployment, and the Met said that specialist LFR officers remain in the area to engage with the public and respond to alerts.
The Met added that each deployment uses a bespoke, intelligence-led watchlist created no more than 24 hours beforehand, which is then deleted immediately after the deployment concludes.
Croydon high street was selected as the location for this remote LFR deployment pilot due to its status as a crime hotspot, and the Met said there are currently no plans to extend the pilot to other areas.
The pilot helped reduce crime in Fairfield Ward by 12%, and a third of arrests were for violence against women and girls, including sexual assault.
“The increase in LFR deployments across crime hotspots in London is driven by its proven impact and success — with more than 1,700 dangerous offenders taken off London’s streets since the start of 2024, including those wanted for rape and child abuse,” said Met and national lead for LFR Lindsey Chiswick.
“The amount of arrests we have made in just 13 deployments shows the technology is already making an impact and helping to make Croydon safer.”
“Public support remains strong, with 85% of Londoners backing the use of LFR to keep them safe,” Chiswick said.
