West Yorkshire Police’s Live Facial Recognition (LFR) cameras have now helped identify more than 80 wanted suspects since the technology was first deployed in the region, following a fresh two-day rollout in Wakefield city centre last week.
Specialist officers ran two camera vans in Wakefield City Centre over the two-day deployment, working alongside the Wakefield City Neighbourhood Policing Team. In total, 82 people wanted on suspicion of crime have now been picked up by the cameras since West Yorkshire’s first LFR deployment in November 2025, with recent arrests covering serious domestic offences and retail crime.
Over the technology’s ten months of use, it has also helped locate missing and vulnerable people, and led to 95 checks on individuals subject to Sexual Harm Prevention Orders.
The system works by comparing live camera footage against a watchlist of wanted people and suspects, with any potential match reviewed by a trained officer before any action is taken; footage of anyone who doesn’t match the watchlist is deleted within seconds.
Useful tool
Chief Superintendent Stuart Bainbridge, District Commander of Wakefield Police, said: “Live Facial Recognition is an incredibly useful tool and this latest deployment in Wakefield has assisted our officers in keeping communities safe. The cameras are there to pick out persons already logged on police systems as wanted by the courts, wanted for arrest or as posing a risk to the public.
“Images of ordinary members of the public who walk by them are deleted almost instantly. The technology itself is tried and tested, and the number of wanted criminals it has now helped catch really demonstrates its effectiveness.”
Cllr John Thomas, Deputy Leader of Wakefield Council, said he had held reservations about the technology’s use locally, but had since been reassured after talking to police directly: “Like many residents I’ve had concerns about the use of Live Facial Recognition in Wakefield. People should never be subject to routine profiling or to unnecessary retention of personal information.
“After speaking directly with the Police, it’s clear this is not a system of mass surveillance. The technology is used only to identify individuals already on police watchlists. Images of other members of the public not retained. With appropriate safeguards in place, Live Facial Recognition is a valuable tool to help West Yorkshire Police keep communities safe whilst not impinging on our civil liberties.”
Chief Inspector Dan Tillett, who leads on LFR for West Yorkshire Police, said: “Since its launch late last year, live facial recognition has had a notable impact in helping our officers make streets safer, with its use resulting in 82 arrests directly from alerts. We continue to take great care in deploying the technology in places where intelligence has identified it would be most beneficial and want to stress we are not using it for mass surveillance or indiscriminate monitoring.
“LFR is simply not built to do that, but instead to act as an extra pair of high tech eyes to assist local officers spot persons who may not be known to them personally but are evading the law. More deployments will soon be taking place to maximise our use of this technology in helping make communities safer.”
