Live Facial Recognition (LFR) operation result

Dear all, 

Re: Live Facial Recognition operation result.

On Wednesday 5th November 2025, Merton Safer Neighbourhoods Team ran a live facial recognition operation in Morden.  I wanted to update you on the results. 

Result

Live Facial Recognition Key Points

Live facial recognition is an amazing tool in our arsenal to locate outstanding suspects, wanted people and those who pose a risk to the public.  To reassure you, this tactic is heavily regulated, independently tested and it has been confirmed that there is no bias in the system.  Before any deployment there is a strict process to follow (including authorisation from a Superintendent).  The system is extremely accurate with only one false alert per 250,000 alerts so far this year.  I would like to stress that the false alerts have not lead to any wrongful arrests, only police speaking to the individuals to confirm their identity.  Every face the camera captures is immediately washed through the systems wanted database, if there is no match the image is immediately deleted and cannot be retrieved.  Below is a brief overview of its use this year so far:

More information can be found here about live facial recognition: https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/about-us/about-the-met/facial-recognition-technology/

Regards, 

Inspector Swan