A live facial recognition (LFR) technology trial on a busy south London street led to 170 arrests over six months, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The pilot took place in Croydon town centre between October 2025 and March 2026. Over this period, the Met said LFR technology led to a 10.5% reduction in crime compared with the same period the previous year. Violence against women and girls offences saw the biggest reduction, falling by 21%.

Arrests included a 36-year-old woman wanted for more than 20 years for failing to appear at court for an assault and a 41-year-old man wanted for rape relating to an incident in November.

The pilot marked the first time that the Met in London has operated LFR deployments without the need for a police van. Previously, the cameras were mounted on vans and could only be used when officers were present in the vehicle.

Instead, the pilot saw LFR cameras mounted on existing street furniture – such as lamp posts – at two locations on either ends of North End, a pedestrianised road in Croydon town centre.

Cameras are only activated during deployments, when officers are present on the ground with fellow officers monitoring the camera feeds remotely. If there is an alert and someone is identified by the system, officers on the ground will talk to them and make any necessary arrests.

In total, there were 24 separate deployments, during which 173 arrests were made – the equivalent of one arrest every 35 minutes. Croydon was specifically selected for the trial because of its status as a crime hotspot.

Each deployment maps a person’s unique facial features and matches them against a “bespoke, intelligence-led watchlist”. After the deployment concludes, any biometric data from members of the public who are not wanted by the police is immediately deleted.

Of the more than 470,000 people who walked past the cameras during the trial there was only one false alert. This resulted in a brief interaction with officers, who swiftly identified the alert was false and allowed the person to continue on their way.

Lindsey Chiswick, national and Met lead for live facial recognition, said: “These results show why live facial recognition is such a powerful tool when it’s used carefully, openly and in the right places.

“This technology is helping us find people wanted by the courts, identify serious offenders quickly and focus our resources where they make the biggest impact, all with exceptional accuracy.

“We will continue using static cameras in Croydon as part of our regular live facial recognition deployments, which play a vital part in keeping London safe.”

The Met has been making use of LFR technology sporadically since 2016, but has increased its deployments in recent years. The use of the technology is not without controversy. Detractors, including privacy advocates and politicians, are concerned that the broad proliferation of surveillance technology has serious implications for human rights.