The Metropolitan Police plans to deploy static facial recognition cameras in the West End of London as well as Soho by the end of the year, with six more locations expected to follow in 2027, after winning a human rights legal challenge over the technology earlier this year.
The cameras are part of a broader strategy of using technology to cut the need for human staff, although the Met said human officers will remain in charge of arrest decisions.
In other parts of the UK, live facial recognition is typically deployed in vans for short periods, with the locations and times advertised in advance, and the Met has also used this approach.
Arrests
The Met then trialled static LFR cameras in Croydon, deploying them on both ends of Croydon’s high street.
