I write with an update of more recent good news on arrests made with help from the Live Facial Recognition I worked to bring to Croydon.
I am delighted to report that multiple arrests were made in Croydon town centre over three recent deployments of Live Facial Recognition (LFR). This is something I have been pushing for nationally, and I am glad that the Met accepted my suggestion to further trial LFR in Croydon.
LFR starts with a “watchlist” of images of people who are wanted for serious offences or who are wanted by the Court for failing to attend a criminal hearing. A camera is then set up by Police in a location with high footfall, and advanced facial recognition software is used to see if anyone walking past matches one of the images on the watchlist. If there is a match, the officers running the system are alerted and they intervene to see if the person is indeed the one wanted. The matching software is now incredibly accurate and advanced.
This has been deployed in Croydon town centre numerous times since the Police began using it in December 2023. In three recent deployments this month and last, arrests for the following offences were made in a matter of just a few hours:
- A man wanted for sexual assault, common assault and criminal damage to motor vehicle;
- A man wanted since June for Rape;
- A man wanted since 2022 for failing to appear at court for common assault;
- A man wanted since April for burglary;
- A man found to be in breach of his Sexual Risk Order;
- A high risk Domestic Violence offender wanted for failing to appear at court;
- Three registered sex offenders found to be in breach of their Sexual Harm Prevention Orders;
- Two men wanted for failing to appear in court for multiple shoplifting charges;
- A man wanted in connection with allegations of domestic related harassment;
- A man wanted for burglary;
- A man wanted for sexual assault;
- A man wanted since 2010 for fraud;
- A man seen to act suspiciously when he spotted the LFR van – found in possession of cocaine.
These deployment took 16 potentially dangerous people off the streets, bringing the total to around 160 arrests of wanted people since LFR was brought in to Croydon.
The identity of the people stopped was verified separately from the facial recognition system, and no false alerts were generated. There are safeguards around privacy and accuracy. Any passer-by who is scanned and who is not on the watchlist is immediately and automatically deleted. The system is governed by detailed rules set out by the College of Policing, and there is case law setting out the legal requirements of the system. This includes accuracy and no bias.
The system has been tested by the National Physical Laboratory and at the setting used meets the legal requirements (it delivers no bias and a 1/6000 accuracy rate). There are also signs displayed that LFR is being used.
I am delighted that 160 potentially dangerous people have been taken off our streets. There are further LFR deployments planned in Croydon in the near future and I am pushing for this technology to be rolled out nationally, within the rules and guidelines to safeguard privacy. This technology has the potential to ensure that huge numbers of wanted criminals are caught.
Rt Hon Chris Philp MP
Member of Parliament for Croydon South
