A 26-year-old man was arrested in Manchester City Centre on Friday (January 30)
A 26-year-old is in custody having been arrested on suspicion of rape(Image: GMP)
Live facial recognition technology deployed in Piccadilly Gardens and some of Greater Manchester’s busiest spots has led to the arrest of a man wanted in connection with a rape investigation, police have confirmed.
A 26-year-old man was arrested in Manchester City Centre on Friday (January 30) on suspicion of rape, as well as harassment and coercive control offences. He remains in custody for questioning, Greater Manchester Police said.
Police said the man had been wanted in connection with a rape reported in Salford in September 2025, along with a domestic incident in Oldham in May. No charges have yet been made and enquiries are ongoing.
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The arrest was made during a deployment of live facial recognition (LFR) technology in Piccadilly Gardens, one of the city centre’s busiest public spaces. The technology was introduced by GMP to the area in November, with the latest deployments on January 28 and January 30.
A 26-year-old is in custody having been arrested on suspicion of rape(Image: GMP)
During the latest deployments, officers said more than 40,000 faces were scanned, resulting in four arrests. Those arrested included a 55-year-old man on suspicion of theft, a 59-year-old man wanted on recall to prison and breach of sex offender notification requirements and a 48-year-old man for theft offences.
Inspector Jon Middleton said: “This is exactly why we have been using LFR – to keep our communities safe, catch wanted suspects and make sure people are adhering to their court conditions.
GMP live facial recognition (LFR) were deployed in Piccadilly Gardens(Image: GMP)
“This proactive approach allows officers to intervene more quickly before suspects can commit further offences, reducing the risk to the public. We will continue to deploy across Greater Manchester to support our neighbourhood policing teams.”
Piccadilly Gardens was selected for the deployment based on police intelligence, with officers describing the area as a hotspot for crime, including violence and shoplifting. Chief Inspector Mike Tachauer, who works on the city centre at GMP, told the Manchester Evening News last year the tool could be a ‘real positive’ in one of the city’s most high-profile areas.
GMP currently operates two specialist vans, funded by the Home Office, which can be used across the North West. They are each fitted with two fixed cameras, while computers inside the van contain software which uses biometric data to match faces in the crowd to one of the faces on a ‘watchlist’.
LFR will be used in authorised locations across the county to help identify wanted or vulnerable people(Image: PA)
Police say watchlists are made up of vulnerable missing persons, people wanted for a crime or by the courts, or who are under certain conditions that could be breached. The cameras focus on a specific area or crowd to detect faces, with an alert issued immediately if there is a match.
GMP has been using LFR since October 2025, with around one in five arrests linked to registered sex offenders. In total, the force said 40 people have been arrested during LFR deployments so far, with around three-quarters subsequently charged with offences.
Sergeant Ryan Magee, from our Sexual Offenders Management Unit, said: “The technology enables officers to conduct real time identification, allowing early intervention and preventing potential harm before it occurs. In a relatively short space of time, LFR activity has resulted in a substantial number of intelligence-led stops and arrests.
“Targeted operations have significantly enhanced the force’s ability to intercept dangerous individuals, including those seeking to travel with the intent to commit offences. We will continue working with the LFR team on future operations as we look to further develop our ability to protect the public.”
The technology is not without its critics, with a number of civil liberties groups campaigning against the use of live facial recognition across the country. However, GMP says it follows strict guidance on use of the technology.
Further deployments of LFR are planned in Manchester city centre and Stockport town centre in the coming weeks.