British Transport Police extends live facial recognition trial into Underground stations

The British Transport Police (BTP) are expanding its live facial recognition trial with deployments in London Underground stations.

The first deployment begins today at Victoria Underground station, deployments will rotate at Underground and Network Rail stations as the trial goes on, which has been extended to November. The pilot started in February for a six-month period, starting at London Bridge railway station.

“Expanding deployments into London Underground stations will help us assess the technology in a different transport environment while continuing to refine how it is used across the railway network,” says Chief Superintendent Chris Casey, BTP’s senior officer responsible for the project.

The pilot is intended to evaluate LFR’s effectiveness on railways, its public safety impact and the public’s response to the technology. BTP says its use of LFR is aimed at identifying high‑harm offenders on the rail network, with deployments targeted at stations where intelligence shows wanted individuals are likely to pass through.

“Live facial recognition has the potential to be a powerful additional tool in helping police quickly identify those wanted for high-harm offences, including sexual offences, and supports early intervention and helps stop incidents before they happen,” says Siwan Hayward, director of security, policing and enforcement at Transport for London.

The force will run temporary, health‑and‑safety‑assessed camera setups on station concourses. Images captured in these zones are streamed to NEC’s NeoFace M40 algorithm and checked against a watchlist of people wanted by police or courts. When the system flags a possible match, an officer makes a visual comparison and decides whether to engage.

Images of anyone not on the watchlist are deleted immediately, and alert images are wiped within 24 hours. Only standard CCTV footage is retained for 31 days, according to the BTP, which says it will notify the public before each deployment, use clear signage and offer QR‑code access to information and feedback. People who prefer not to enter the recognition zone will be given alternative routes.

“This trial is an important step in understanding how this technology can be used on the London Underground in a targeted, proportionate way with strict safeguards in place,” Hayward says. “We will be monitoring and assessing the impact of LFR through this trial over the next four months.”

The force emphasizes that deployments will comply with data protection, human rights and equality laws, with oversight from internal governance bodies and external ethics groups. A full evaluation will follow the pilot to assess effectiveness and identify improvements.

Independent testing by the National Physical Laboratory found settings for the NeoFace M40 algorithm that minimize false positives and reduce the risk of bias across protected characteristics. BTP says it will operate the system in line with those recommendations to build public trust.

The force does not currently use operator initiated facial recognition and will publish further documents on retrospective facial recognition.

Shadow Home Secretary wants police to use facial recognition much more

Britain’s leading opposition party wants a major expansion in the use of facial recognition technology as part of efforts to strengthen police investigations, reports the BBC.

The Conservatives’ shadow home secretary Chris Philp said officers should be required to run images of suspects through facial recognition systems whenever footage is available from CCTV, mobile phones or doorbell cameras.

Philp also wants police to act when stolen or geo‑tagged items — such as phones, laptops, bikes or cars — show their location at a suspect’s address, and to pursue cases where stolen goods are openly advertised for sale online.

A Home Office spokesperson said the government was already investing heavily in facial recognition tools, claiming current policies are “ already turning the tide on crime.”

Philp praised the existing facial recognition database, which holds images of around 10 million people, but argued forces should be obliged to use it whenever relevant.

He believes officers should also be required to visit addresses where stolen devices are pinging their location, and to track online listings of stolen goods to recover property where possible.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  criminal ID  |  live facial recognition  |  NEC  |  NeoFace