The Met is planning to double its use of LFR to up to 10 times a week across five days, up from the current four times a week across two days.
Making the announcement last week, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told me the technology was “making London safer”.
“There are a lot of wanted offenders out there. This helps us round them up.”
He pointed to a case where a registered sex offender, who’d been banned from being alone with young children, was picked up on LFR cameras in Denmark Hill, south-east London, in January with a six-year-old girl.
“I think most people would expect two things. Is it accurate? Is it fair? We’ve worked really hard on this.”
The Met has said it works within existing human rights and data protection laws and its approach has been tested by the National Physical Laboratory, to check there is no gender or racial bias.
“If you’re not wanted, that image is deleted straight away,” the commissioner told me.
“The council CCTV you walk past, or shop CCTV, they keep your face for 28 days. We keep your face for less than a second. Unless you’re wanted, in which case, we arrest you.”