Using their new ‘RoboCop’ cameras, police make an arrest in Croydon every 34 minutes, but Live Facial Recognition has been described as ‘stop and search on steroids’, and the tech faces a High Court challenge next week
The Metropolitan Police today said that the first three months of using fixed Live Facial Recognition cameras in Croydon have produced a decrease in robbery and shoplifting incidents, as they racked up 103 arrests since October.
Warning signs: the Met deployed LFR from its fixed cameras 13 times between October and December last year
Fifteen cameras were installed at two locations at either end of North End.
It is the first permanent deployment of LFR cameras in the country, and follows two years of temporary use of LFR, with frequent visits to Croydon’s high street from police vans.
LFR is supposed to map a person’s unique facial features and match them against faces on watch lists.
LFR is not without controversy, since its use is as yet not supported by any defining legislation, and human rights groups maintain that the technology is fallible and can mis-identify innocent people as suspects.
The Met has released its stats ahead of a High Court challenge against the use of the technology, after a man was wrongly identified last year.
The Met claims that of the 103 arrests made in Croydon between October and December 2025, only one was a “false alert”.
The cameras are only switched on when officers are deployed, which has happened 13 times over the three-month trial.
The police maintain that any biometric data from members of the public who are not wanted is immediately and permanently deleted.
Crime figures in Fairfield ward have fallen by 12% since the trial began, the Met says.
“We’re seeing reductions in almost all crime types, certainly in shoplifting and robbery,” Superintendent Luke Dillon told the BBC.
Arrest rate: according to figures provided by Supt Luke Dillon, the Met is making an arrest on average every 34 minutes with its RoboCop cameras
The Met today described the cameras as providing “more efficient deployments”, with an arrest being made on average every 34 minutes when in use.
Of those arrested, one-third were for violence against women and girls, such as strangulation and sexual assault. Others include recall to prison, burglary and possession of offensive weapon.
Those arrested in Croydon include:
- A 36-year-old woman who has been unlawfully at large for more than 20 years. She was wanted for failing to appear at court for an assault in 2004
- A 37-year-old Registered Sex Offender who was found in possession of an unregistered mobile phone and having access to social media, a breach of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order
- A man aged 27, who was wanted on suspicion of kidnap
Three-quarters of those arrested live in Croydon.
Since the start of 2024, LFR deployments in Croydon have led to 249 arrests. Of those arrests, 193 have since been charged or cautioned – a 77.5% “success” rate, which means that in almost one-quarter of the cases, the cameras have not identified a criminal.
“The pilot will undergo an evaluation in the coming months to assess its effectiveness,” the Met said today.
Next week, Big Brother Watch is bringing a High Court challenge together with Shaun Thompson, who was wrongly identified by LFR and stopped by police in February 2024 outside London Bridge Tube station. Thompson has described LFR as “stop and search on steroids”.
‘Breakthrough’: MP Sarah Jones supports the use of LFR cameras
The Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has been granted permission to intervene in the Judicial Review, said the Met’s use of the technology breaches human rights law.
A 10-week government consultation on LFR use is underway, which should provide the legal framework for its use.
Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon West and crime and policing minister, has said LFR, is “the biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA matching”.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, MP for Croydon South, has supported the pilot scheme, saying LFR had “the potential to revolutionise crime fighting”.
Privacy campaigners have questioned why Croydon, which has a higher proportion of black residents (22.6%) compared to London as a whole (13.5%) had been selected for the LFR fixed cameras pilot.
The Met said it had chosen Croydon because it was a “crime hotspot” and because there was “local support” for the pilot. So they are half right.
Read more: 10,000 sign Liberty petition against facial recognition cameras
Read more: Knife attack on Frith Road in broad daylight claims two victims
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2026, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for an EIGHTH time in nine years, in Private Eye magazine’s annual round-up of civic cock-ups
- Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
