Deployment of Facial Recognition at London events in August and September 2024/2025

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.25.047416

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. How was the decision to deploy facial recognition at the Notting Hill Carnival made. Provide evidence of committee meeting notes and sign off procedures.
2. How was the decision not to deploy facial recognition at the wide scale Reclaim Our Colours March in central London on 13 September 2024 made. Provide evidence of committee meeting notes and sign off procedures.
3. Provide a copy of the Data Protection Impact Assessment of each decision to deploy or not deploy facial recognition software at events totalling more than 5,000 people taking place between 01 August to 15 September 2025.
4. Provide details of liaison with the UK Information Commissioner's Office regarding the MPS decision to deploy facial recognition software at any events totalling more than 5,000 people taking place between 01 August to 15 September 2025.
5. How many people were arrested as a result of the deployment of facial recognition software at the Notting Hill Carnival (provide a breakdown of crimes). How many of these arrests have resulted in further action.
6. How many arrests were made at the protests on 13 September 2025.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full. Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - How was the decision to deploy facial recognition at the Notting Hill Carnival made. Provide evidence of committee meeting notes and sign off procedures.

The use of live facial recognition at Notting Hill Carnival 2025 was one of a range of tactical options approved by the police Gold Commander, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ward, in accordance with his overall strategic intentions and his specific NHC 2025 Crime and Intelligence strategy. Planning meetings were then undertaken to ensure that any proposed LFR deployments would fully comply with all relevant policies and legislation.

Please see the link below for the MPS LFR decision to deploy, this is in line with policy and for the MPS sign off procedure – this is outlined in the policy through the LFR Form 1, specifically mentioned in Paragraph 8 under pre-deployment.

MPS Overt LFR Policy Document.pdf

Q2 - How was the decision not to deploy facial recognition at the wide scale Reclaim Our Colours March in central London on 13 September 2024 made. Provide evidence of committee meeting notes and sign off procedures.

LFR policy does not require a record of a decision not to deploy, so there are no committee meeting notes or sign off procedures held.

Please see the link below for the MPS LFR decision to deploy, this is in line with policy:

MPS Overt LFR Policy Document.pdf

Please also see the following link which you may find useful:

Met chief: Why facial scanning was not used at Robinson rally - BBC News

Q3 - Provide a copy of the Data Protection Impact Assessment of each decision to deploy or not deploy facial recognition software at events totalling more than 5,000 people taking place between 01 August to 15 September 2025.

Please see the following link to view the LFR DPIA:

LFR - Data Protection Impact Assessment(DPIA).pdf

Q4 - Provide details of liaison with the UK Information Commissioner's Office regarding the MPS decision to deploy facial recognition software at any events totalling more than 5,000 people taking place between 01 August to 15 September 2025.

No information is held for this question.

Q5. How many people were arrested as a result of the deployment of facial recognition software at the Notting Hill Carnival (provide a breakdown of crimes). How many of these arrests have resulted in further action.

Please see the following link to the MPS LFR deployment grids for 2025 which are regularly published and includes arrests, and the outcomes of those arrests. We don’t currently record the crime type on these grids, but this is something we are looking to publish in the future.

MPS LFR Deployments 2025.pdf

At the time this request was received actions have been taken against all persons arrested. Please note however that this is a moving figure and subject to change.

Q6- How many arrests were made at the protests on 13 September 2025.

There were 23 arrests in total, 22 of these were from the Unite the Kingdom march and 1 was from the counter-protest.