Devon and Cornwall Police will deploy live facial recognition for the first time in Newquay, using the technology in the town during the period surrounding the Boardmasters music and surfing festival.
The cameras will not operate at the festival site at Watergate Bay. Police plan to place them in Newquay, where they will compare live video with a predetermined watchlist of people officers are seeking.
The force says the operation will support efforts to reduce violence against women and girls, target organized and serious crime, identify sexual offenders and prevent the supply of illegal drugs. The deployment is being presented as one part of the wider policing operation rather than a replacement for officers on patrol.
When the system produces a possible match, a trained officer will review the alert before police approach the person. Images of people who do not match the watchlist are to be deleted automatically within seconds. Signs will tell the public where the cameras are operating, and deployment locations will be publicized.
The human-review step means an algorithmic alert will not automatically trigger police engagement. Deleting non-match images within seconds also limits the biometric data retained from the wider crowd.
The first use in Devon and Cornwall comes as the Home Office is expanding the national live facial recognition fleet. The government has funded 40 additional mobile units and plans to make the technology available to more forces across England and Wales.
That expansion remains under legal scrutiny. The UK High Court is expected to hear a challenge to police use of live facial recognition, including questions about watchlist construction, proportionality and the legal framework governing deployments.
Boardmasters draws large numbers of visitors to the Newquay area and creates a concentrated policing demand beyond the event grounds. Devon and Cornwall Police recorded 14 suspected spiking incidents during the 2025 festival, down from 55 a year earlier, although positive drug tests did not confirm spiking in either of the past two years.
The force has not specified the size or composition of the watchlist for the operation. Its decision to use the technology in town rather than within Boardmasters also means people who are not attending the ticketed event may pass through the camera zone.
The deployment will give the force its first operational experience with real-time face matching as the technology moves from a small number of early adopters toward wider use in UK policing.
Sources: BBC News
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By Ali Nassar-Smith
