Met Police Expands Live Facial Recognition to West End and Soho
The Metropolitan Police expanded live facial recognition cameras to London's West End and Soho following a pilot program, reportedly arresting 173 people in the pilot and over 2,000 since 2024. Human rights groups raised concerns that the expansion lacked an established legal framework and called for a pause in deployment.
What happened
The Metropolitan Police expanded its use of static live facial recognition cameras to London's West End and Soho following a six-month pilot in Croydon between October 2025 and May 2026.
The pilot generated one false alert among more than 470,000 people who passed the camera, resulting in the person being spoken to by officers and then allowed to leave. The devices are attached to street furniture and monitored remotely, and were planned for deployment across central London by the end of 2026 with further rollout to other parts of the capital in 2027.
Reported impact
The Met reported that 173 people were arrested during the Croydon pilot, including a woman wanted for more than 20 years. Since the start of 2024, the force reported more than 2,000 arrests using live facial recognition cameras, along with reported reductions in crime and violence against women and girls in the pilot area.
Index analysis
Liberty, a human rights organisation, called the expansion 'very troubling' and stated it 'represents a major escalation in the use of this technology'. Liberty argued that robust safeguards, oversight and transparency should have been in place before the technology was introduced, and called for the Metropolitan Police to pause its use until a legal framework is established.
Governance controls
No legal framework to govern the use of live facial recognition cameras was reported to be in place at the time of expansion. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley cited public confidence, stating around 80% of Londoners support its use.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.