Norfolk Police is preparing to use live facial recognition in Norwich city centre for the first time, extending the technology to another UK force as police and regulators continue to argue over safeguards, transparency and legal limits. BBC and Silicon UK reported the system will be mounted in a marked van and used in a signposted area, where it will alert officers if someone walking past matches a face on a police watchlist.
The force said the deployment is intended to identify wanted people and support justice for victims rather than monitor routine daily activity. Officers are expected to be present in the area and available to answer questions from the public, part of a communications approach Norfolk says is meant to keep the deployment visible rather than hidden. The first run is scheduled for Sunday in Norwich.
The move puts Norfolk into the same group as other UK forces that have begun using live facial recognition outside long-running London deployments. It also comes after the national government said in January that the number of LFR vans available to forces would rise from 10 to 50, a scale-up that points to broader normalization of the technology in policing rather than isolated pilots.
The timing comes as the UK debate has been intensifying on both oversight and rollout. Only a day earlier, the ICO argued that data protection law must remain central to police facial recognition governance. Norfolk is also following Cumbria, which recently used live facial recognition for the first time at a Brunton Park match, while a wider UK conversation continues around public-safety video governance and privacy controls.
Because the Norwich run will use a marked van and a signposted zone, Norfolk is also testing a visibility model for deployment. Questions about how watchlists are compiled, how long images are retained, and what oversight applies as the technology moves from occasional use toward routine policing remain open as more forces begin their own first deployments.
Sources: BBC, Silicon UK
–
By the ID Tech Editorial Team
