In the UK’s pioneering “Big Brother town,” law enforcement is successfully apprehending suspects every 34 minutes, aided by facial recognition technology that has even caught fugitives evading justice for two decades.
Following the government’s recent and debated decision to expand facial recognition systems nationwide, from urban centers to rural areas, the first town equipped with permanent surveillance cameras is already showing remarkable results.
Since October, Scotland Yard has stationed permanent cameras on lampposts at both entry and exit points of Croydon town center, identified as a significant “crime hotspot.”
Dubbed Britain’s “Big Brother town,” these cameras, resembling regular CCTV units, are occasionally activated to scan for thousands of wanted individuals on a specified watchlist.
When operational, these cameras have facilitated the arrest of one suspect roughly every 34 minutes.
Among the notable captures was a suspect accused of violent offenses who had been evading authorities for over 20 years.
The woman had been wanted over an assault since 2004, but all previous attempts to locate her had failed.
A man wanted on suspicion of kidnap was also captured as a result.
Met Police footage of arrests after using facial recognition cameras. On average, one suspect has been arrested every 34 minutes when the cameras are operating
Police in Britain’s first ‘Big Brother town’ are catching criminals every 34 minutes, spotting suspects on the run for 20 years using facial recognition cameras, it can be revealed
So far, police have made 100 arrests, with a third being for offences of violence against women and girls including strangulation and sexual assault
Since the cameras were switched on, crime has plummeted compared to November last year.
So far, police have made 100 arrests, with a third being for offences of violence against women and girls including strangulation and sexual assault.
Others include those wanted on recall to prison and for burglary and possession of offensive weapon offences.
The Metropolitan Police is one of the first forces to pioneer the technology, but previous deployments have relied on a camera van being parked in a location for a few hours in prominent locations such as Oxford Street.
Compared to van deployments, analysis shows that the lamppost cameras have halved the average length of time that it takes to arrest offenders after they are circulated as wanted.
Since October more than 146,000 faces of the public walking down the high street in Croydon have been scanned in 13 deployments.
In that time the cameras have generated more than 132 alerts.
In one deployment lasting less than two hours, police made arrests every 13 minutes on average.
The cameras have resulted in a 12 per cent fall in retail and violent crime as well as sexual offences in the local area.
They work by taking digital images of passing pedestrians, feeding them into a computer using biometric software to measure facial features.
The image is compared with a watchlist and if a match is detected, an alert is sent to officers to review and consider making an arrest.
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In October, Scotland Yard installed fixed cameras on lampposts at the entrance and exit to Croydon town centre after the town was designated a ‘crime hotspot’ (File image of police in Croydon)
The cameras have resulted in a 12 per cent fall in retail and violent crime as well as sexual offences in the local area (File image of Croydon)
If a member of the public is not wanted by police, their biometrics are immediately deleted.
Met tests show the technology is so accurate that only around one in 33,000 scans results in a false alert.
Now Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has called for the cameras to be installed in every town centre after seeing a dramatic reduction in crime in the area, which has been plagued by shoplifting, anti-social behaviour and drug dealing.
The Croydon South MP said: ‘It’s almost free arrests. These are regular cameras unlike the vans which are a scarce resource.
‘I have spoken to residents and explained that their images are deleted immediately afterwards and people are absolutely happy for that happen if we catch lots more wanted criminals as a result. It is a trade-off that the vast majority are willing to accept.
‘People are noticing that crime is going down, people do feel safer.’
The Government is currently holding a consultation about the use of facial recognition after announcing plans to roll it out across the UK.
Smaller forces like Hertfordshire Police are also launching their own consultations about the use of the technology.
But some campaigners have raised concerns about state surveillance with groups like Big Brother Watch saying: ‘Live facial recognition turns every passer-by into a walking barcode and treats us all as a nation of suspects.’
Lindsey Chiswick, lead for facial recognition at the Met and nationally, said: ‘The increase in Live Facial Recognition (LFR) deployments across crime hotspots in London is driven by its proven impact and success – with more than 1,700 dangerous offenders off London’s streets since the start of 2024, including those wanted for rape and child abuse.
‘This is why we are trialling a new and innovative pilot in Croydon, which sees cameras temporarily mounted on street furniture, rather than vans. This allows us to explore a different way of using facial recognition, operating it remotely and in a more efficient way.’
