British police forces made 1,317 arrests after scanning approximately 9.25 million faces using live facial recognition (LFR) technology across 369 separate operations in England and Wales.
The surveillance crackdown resulted in the detention of around 450 suspected violent offenders.
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Rapid Expansion of Deployments
Deployments of the artificial intelligence technology accelerated sharply, rising from 63 operations in 2023 to 246 in 2024 and 369 in 2025.
Fourteen of the nation's 45 territorial police forces utilized the system, which scanned an average of 78 faces per minute from surveillance vans stationed at high-density public areas and major events.
The Metropolitan Police conducted the majority of the operations, deploying LFR technology 231 times to scan 4.2 million faces and detain 1,133 individuals wanted by courts or suspected of crimes.
Following these results, the British government announced plans in January to expand the surveillance fleet fivefold, increasing the number of mobile vans from 10 to 50 nationwide.
Supporters and Privacy Protections
Supporters of the technology emphasize its precision in identifying suspects accused of serious crimes while protecting public safety.
Former Scotland Yard Detective Peter Bleksley praised early adopting forces for advancing operational deployments despite the lack of direct parliamentary legislation.
He highlighted the privacy protections built into the scanning system during crowd monitoring.
Bleksley added that unmatched data is discarded instantly rather than stored permanently.
Law enforcement officials also emphasize that human oversight remains integral to every LFR deployment.
