Met Police reports 962 arrests using live facial recognition technology
The Metropolitan Police reported that its Live Facial Recognition system led to 962 arrests between September 2024 and September 2025, while 10 people were falsely alerted by the system, eight of whom were black. The force stated no arrests resulted from the false alerts and plans to scale up the technology, though human rights groups have raised concerns about privacy and accuracy.
What happened
The Metropolitan Police reported that between September 2024 and September 2025, 962 people were arrested following deployments of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology.
The force stated that 10 people were falsely alerted by the system, of which eight were black. Four were not stopped and the rest were spoken to by officers for under five minutes.
Reported impact
The Met stated that no arrests resulted from the 10 false alerts in the 12-month period.
A survey from the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime reported that 85% of respondents backed its use to locate serious and violent criminals, those wanted by the courts, and those at risk to themselves.
Index analysis
Eight of the 10 people falsely alerted were black, representing a significant portion of documented misidentifications.
Human rights groups have raised concerns about privacy and the potential for false matches, though the Met characterizes the technology as a 'powerful and game-changing tool'.
Governance controls
The Met Police reported that while no arrests followed false alerts, the force plans to scale up its use of LFR technology.
The campaign group Big Brother Watch is reportedly bringing a legal action related to the use of the technology.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.