Met makes one arrest every 35 minutes during live facial recognition pilot

More than 170 wanted criminals have been arrested during a live facial recognition pilot in Croydon, which saw static cameras deployed for the first time.

New results, released today by the Metropolitan Police, show that during the six-month pilot, crime in the area fell by 10.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, with the biggest reduction seen in violence against women and girls’ offences, which were down by 21 per cent.

Those arrested included people wanted for kidnap, rape and serious sexual assault, providing further evidence of the effectiveness of live facial recognition (LFR) at removing dangerous offenders from our streets.

LFR deployments typically require the use of a dedicated van which houses both cameras and the computer equipment required to use them.

For the duration of the pilot – which ran from October 2025 to March 2026 – cameras were instead mounted to existing infrastructure such as lampposts, allowing officers to run deployments in a more agile way.

Officers used the static cameras as part of 24 separate operations and made 173 arrests – the equivalent of one arrest every 35 minutes.

Arrests linked to the pilot include:

• A 36-year-old woman who had been unlawfully at large for more than 20 years and was wanted for failing to appeal at court for an assault in 2004.
  

• A 31-year-old man who was wanted for voyeurism for more than six months.
  

• A 41-year-old man who was wanted for rape in relation to an incident which took place in November in Croydon.

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. Crime in this area is down by more than ten per cent, and the public can see the difference.

“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 operation also led to 37 arrests for breaches of court‑imposed conditions. The cameras help officers quickly identify individuals who are subject to restrictions designed to protect the public, giving them the opportunity to stop those involved and ensure compliance.

Importantly, 61 per cent of the offences linked to arrests were committed in Croydon, highlighting the pilot’s ability to keep hotspot areas safe.

More than 470,000 people have walked past the camera and during this time there has been just one false alert. This resulted in a brief interaction with officers, who swiftly identified the alert was false and allowed the person who had been stopped to continue on their way.

No one has ever been arrested as a result of a false alert from LFR.

About the pilot

The pilot used static LFR cameras mounted on existing street furniture at two locations at the north and south ends of Croydon’s high street.

The system operates in the same way as van‑based deployments, but camera feeds are monitored remotely. This frees up specialist vans for use elsewhere and expands the Met’s overall LFR capability.

Cameras are only activated during deployments, when officers are present on the ground.

Specialist LFR officers and neighbourhood policing teams are deployed throughout each operation to engage with the public and respond to alerts.

Each deployment uses a bespoke, intelligence‑led watchlist, created no more than 24 hours in advance and deleted immediately afterwards, in line with policy.

Croydon was selected due to its status as a crime hotspot and the success of previous deployments.

The Met continues to run engagement sessions with Croydon residents and councillors, explaining how LFR works, the safeguards in place, and how deployments are shaped by local intelligence.

Notes to editors:

On Tuesday, 7 October 2025, Nilton Darame, 25, of Loughborough Street, Lambeth was alerted by the static cameras in Croydon.

Darame was found to be in breach of tag conditions, in relation to an intentional strangulation and two counts of assault on an emergency worker on Monday, 8 September 2025 and arrested.

He was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on Thursday, 8 January to 18 months’ imprisonment.

A month later, at a static deployment on Friday, 21 November 2025, Kastriot Krrashi, 35, of Dingwall Road, Croydon, was stopped by officers for being wanted on suspicion of breaching his conditions as a registered sex offender.

He was arrested, and sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday, 13 February to six months’ imprisonment.

On Friday, 16 January, Neville Cohen, 55 (25.05.1970) of no fixed address, was stopped by officers for being wanted for failing to comply with a condition on a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which required him to attend Croydon Police Station in October 2025.

He attempted to flee from officers and was arrested and later sentenced to four months’ imprisonment on Saturday, 17 January at Croydon Magistrates’ Court.