Northamptonshire Police to deploy live facial recognition cameras as part of a wider campaign to tackle violence against women and girls

Live facial recognition (LFR) cameras will be deployed in three town centres in Northamptonshire as part of a targeted global campaign of action against violence against women and girls.

The LFR cameras will be operating in Northampton on Friday, November 28, in Kettering on Saturday, November 29 and then in Northampton again on Friday, December 5, with a final deployment the following day, Saturday, December 6, in Wellingborough.

A specialist van is being loaned to the Force by neighbouring Bedfordshire Police and will be part of the global 16 Days of Activism targeting violence against women and girls (VAWG).

LFR is a biometric technology which uses video cameras to detect faces and match them with a pre-loaded so-called watchlist of suspects typically wanted on suspicion of committing a crime, having an outstanding court warrant against them, wanted on recall to prisoner or subject to an order that would leave then liable to arrest, such as a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

In the upcoming deployments in Northampton, Kettering and Wellingborough, the watchlist loaded on to the cameras will be the highest risk sex offenders as well as anyone circulated as wanted for arrest.

Northamptonshire was the third Force in the UK to deploy live facial recognition technology when it was used for the first time at the 2023 British Grand Prix at Silverstone and then again for the next two years after that.

However, this is the first time police have used the technology in a town centre setting and specifically to target, disrupt and potentially arrest those wanted for predatory behaviours and violence against women and girls.

Significant scientific testing of the software identified a safe threshold at which watchlists showed no false positives and no bias in terms of age, gender or ethnicity and Northamptonshire Police will be adhering to that during the four-day pilot.

Police will delete the images with alerts immediately after using them or within 24 hours. The images and biometric data of those who do not cause an alert are automatically and immediately deleted.

Det Chief Supt Rich Tompkins, Force lead for the LFR roll-out, said: “I’m grateful to colleagues in Bedfordshire Police for loaning us their van for the operation. We are already a pioneer force in using LFR and will now extend our experience to operating in our town centres, proactively targeting those at risk of committing offences against women and girls.

“We have already conducted community engagement work around our use of LFR and, of course, we will be putting the appropriate signage up in the target areas on the day.

“I understand some people have concerns about LFR – similar to the debate around CCTV 30 years ago - but this is a really important technology for the future and if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about.

“Our deployment comes as the Force looks to introduce its own LFR technology in early 2026. A dedicated LFR co-ordinator is about to take up post and we are now planning to ensure Northamptonshire Police has its own system within a few months.”

You can find out more about Live Facial Recognition Technology by visiting this link on our website: Live Facial Recognition | Northamptonshire Police