Cops get more facial recognition vans as UK bets big on AI policing

Police in England and Wales will increase their use of live facial recognition (LFR) and artificial intelligence (AI) under wide-ranging government plans to reform law enforcement.

A white paper [PDF] published by the Home Office on January 26 includes plans to fund 40 more LFR-equipped vans in addition to ten already in use. These will be used in "town centres and high crime hotspots" with the government planning to spend more than £26 million on a national facial recognition system and £11.6 million on LFR capabilities. It will also set up a bespoke legal framework for the technology's use.

London's Metropolitan Police has said its use of LFR led to 962 arrests from September 2024 to September 2025, with 203 deployments leading to 2,077 alerts including ten false positive identifications.

Writing in the Times, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said LFR's ability to identify people swiftly ...