Met to start using facial recognition in London's West End
The Metropolitan Police says the majority of the public back the use of the technology to tackle crime.
Britain’s biggest police force is expanding its use of static live facial recognition cameras to London’s West End and Soho.
The devices were used during a six-month pilot in Croydon, south London, between October 2025 and May 2026 which saw 173 people arrested including a woman who had been wanted for more than 20 years.
They are now set to be deployed in the West End and Soho by the end of the year, and will be rolled out to other parts of the English capital next year.
The static cameras are attached to street furniture and monitored remotely.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “Facial recognition is one of the most revolutionary technology advances in policing in recent years.
“Public confidence in this is clear – around 80% of Londoners support its use. That backing reflects a simple truth: it works.
“We have already seen the impact in Croydon, where a six-month pilot delivered over 170 arrests, a reduction in crime and a significant fall in violence against women and girls.
“All these results with only one false alert among hundreds of thousands of people.
“The technology supports officers to target wanted criminals and registered sex offenders. Crucially it is supporting officers – not replacing them.
“Now we’re taking that capability further. We want to build on our success by introducing this capability to the West End and Soho by December. The use of static cameras will help us continue cutting crime in high-footfall areas in central London.
“We also have to be clear about the threat we face – criminals are not standing still. They are quick to exploit new technology to commit offences, evade detection and target victims at scale. Policing cannot afford to fall behind and this is another step towards tackling that.”
In the Croydon pilot, the Met said more than 470,000 people walked past the camera, generating one false alert for which the person was spoken to by officers and then allowed to leave.
Since the start of 2024, the force has arrested more than 2,000 people using live facial recognition cameras.