-optimized.jpg){kind=avatar}
A police plan to install cameras with facial recognition to the West End and Soho by December has been welcomed by business groups.
The police in London are stepping up such use of technology โto fundamentally change how we protect the publicโ, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said in a speech to the Police Foundation think-tank (full speech on the Met website).
He said: โDrones are already transforming how we respond to incidents – getting visuals from the scene in minutes, giving officers critical intelligence and helping us act faster and more safely. Now we are scaling that capability across London and working with partners to create a truly integrated, city-wide drone network.
โWeโre also rolling out live facial recognition with static cameras in areas like the West End, building on the success we have already seen in Croydon where it is driving arrests and cutting crime. And we are using AI powered video analytics to unlock the vast amounts of CCTV footage captured across London, helping our investigators find evidence faster and act earlier.โ
Ros Morgan is chief executive of Heart of London Business Alliance, which covers around Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus. She said: “The West End is one of the worldโs busiest and most iconic destinations, and the safety of the millions of people who work, visit and spend time here is fundamental to its continued success. We welcome the Metropolitan Policeโs plans to expand the use of Live Facial Recognition technology following the positive results seen in Croydon, where it has helped to take dangerous criminals off the streets.
“Crime and anti-social behaviour have a direct impact on businesses, affecting staff wellbeing, visitor confidence and the overall experience of the West End. Technology that helps police identify and apprehend offenders more quickly and efficiently can play an important role in creating a safer environment and supporting a thriving economy.
“We support measures that are intelligence-led, proportionate and accompanied by robust safeguards and transparency. Improving safety and confidence in the West End benefits businesses, employees, residents and visitors alike, and will help maintain our position as a world-class destination.โ
Big Brother Watch comment
For the civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, Head of Advocacy Jack Coulson described live facial recognition on static cameras as an alarming escalation of an intrusive technology which has already scanned the faces of millions of innocent Londoners. He said:ย โForcing people to enter a digital police line-up in the capitalโs busiest and most popular destinations is an affront to the idea that you should not have to identify yourself to the police if you have done nothing wrong. To see a play, you must now pay with your privacy.โ
โFacial recognition surveillance makes mistakes. Just this February, Alvi Choudhury was arrested, held for ten hours, and only released at 2am for a crime committed in a city heโd never visited. It is predictable, given the technologyโs racial bias, that Mr Choudhury was confused for another Asian man.โ
โLegislation to regulate the policeโs use of facial recognition is expected in the autumn. Yet the police are rushing ahead with AI monitoring of the public under their own rules. We are calling on the Met to stop this experiment until, at least, Parliament has spoken. Policing by consent is a cultural inheritance we must protect. Permanent biometric surveillance of the public square is incompatible with that ideal.โ
Survey
The Police Foundation meanwhile released details of a survey of Londoners about their attitudes to policing and crime in the capital and views on technology and how the police might modernise. Most (63pc) of Londoners agree Britain is not tough enough on criminals (35pc strongly). This is heavily influenced by age โ but even half (49pc) of those aged 18 to 24 feel this way. About one in seven Londoners (15pc) say they have been the victim of a crime in the past year. More on the Police Foundation website, and in the August 2026 edition of Professional Security Magazine.
Photo by Mark Rowe: looking wests along Oxford Street from Tottenham Court Road.
