Facial recognition deployments in 2022 and 2023

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.037087

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please could you provide information in relation to facial recognition deployments.

1. Please could you list all facial recognition deployments in 2022 and 2023 - showing the geographic area covered and date and time.
2. Please could you provide the number of people who were scanned by the facial recognition system during the deployment.
3. Please could you provide the number of people who were identified and action taken (presumably arrested) and what offences for at each deployment.
4. Please could you provide the number of people who were identified by the system but turned out to be a 'false positive' and whether they were arrested by the police.
5. Please could you advise the cost of each deployment - if the cost is not available please advise the number of officers/staff deployed at each deployment.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 31(1)(a)&(b) Law Enforcement

Reason for decision

The information requested for question 5 which requests the number of officers/staff deployed at each deployment is not suitable for open publication as it would be harmful to policing operations as it goes to identifying how many officers/staff are typically used in an LFR deployment which would have a serious impact on our ability to enforce the law. Therefore, we have applied the exemption provided under Section 31 of the Act (Law Enforcement) to your request.

Disclosure of the number of officers/staff deployed at each deployment would be likely to cause harm to the MPS as it would disrupt our core functions by informing those with the inclination to cause us harm the numbers of police/staff used in a typical LFR deployment. Subsequently harm would then be likely to occur in respect of individuals who would be more likely to become a victim of crime if our systems/processes were disrupted and this would also have implications for the wider community and other organisations we work with (including other police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service).

The release of this information could compromise the MPS’s law enforcement capabilities and the effectiveness of the force will be reduced. It could undermine current and/or future strategies when carrying out investigations and gathering evidence may be compromised. The personal safety of individuals is of paramount importance to the Police Service and must be considered in response of every release. A disclosure under Freedom of Information is a release to the world and, in this case, confirmation of the number of officers/staff deployed at each deployment would negatively impact the work of the MPS.

Law Enforcement is reliant on community engagement, intelligence and evidence gathering and when it is appropriate, information is given to the public. What has been established in this case is the fact that the release of information relating to the number of officers/staff deployed at each deployment would be harmful and have an adverse effect on the investigative process and on the public prevention or detection of crime and the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. This places the victims of such offending at a greater risk towards their health and wellbeing and is not an action the Police Service would be willing to take. These negatives outweigh any tangible community benefit and therefore the balance does not favour a confirmation or denial statement at this time.

Disclosure

For Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 – this is all in the public domain, please see below links:

LFR Deployment Grid (met.police.uk) 2020 to 2022
LFR Deployment Grid (met.police.uk) 2023 to date

For Q5 – we do not hold this information in regards to the costs as these operations are part of a wider policing operation and therefore it is not collated.