Camden’s sole Green councillor has hit out at the Metropolitan Police over its “disproportionate” use of facial recognition software, as data shows the technology has mostly been deployed in areas with higher numbers of Black residents.
The Greater London Assembly’s Green group last week revealed that live facial recognition (LFR) had been used 180 times in 2024, and over half of these instances were in places with a larger Black population than the city’s average.
These areas included Croydon’s Thornton Heath, where 40 percent of residents are Black, Haringey’s Northumberland Park (36 percent), and Lewisham’s Deptford High Street (34 percent).
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Highgate ward councillor Lorna Jane Russell said the situation was “deeply concerning, and Camden is no exception”.
In Camden, where the Black populace (9.1 percent) is lower than the London average (13.5 percent), LFR was deployed five times in total.
Cllr Russell said: “This technology risks reinforcing racial profiling and over-policing, particularly for Black and minoritised women, who are more likely to be misidentified.
“The rollout in Croydon is a huge concern, and it’s vital Camden does not become the next testing ground for this intrusive and discriminatory surveillance.”
According to publicly available police data, LFR was put to use in three of the borough’s designated “crime hotspots”: Kings Cross, Camden High Road, and Kilburn High Road.
Census data from 2021 shows each of these areas has a higher-than-average proportion of Black residents — at 10.5, 11.4, and 16.2 percent, respectively.
Twelve arrests across the borough were made as a result of deployment, while there were 15 instances where no action was taken after a positive identification or “match”.
London Assembly Member Zoë Garbett (Green) said the decision to use LFR in boroughs like Croydon, Lewisham and Haringey reinforced the “troubling assumption that certain communities are more likely to be criminals”.
“The arrest figures are low, and it’s really just subjecting us to surveillance without our knowledge, with Black Londoners being disproportionately targeted,” she said.
Garbett’s press release added that according to deployment data over a five-year period, nearly two million Londoners had their faces scanned during 2024, “likely without even realising it”, but only 804 arrests were made — leaving an arrest rate of just 0.04 per cent.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “The Met is committed to making London safer, using data and technology to identify offenders that pose the greatest risk to our communities. It helped us to make more than 500 arrests last year, including for rape and domestic abuse offences.
“Each LFR deployment is intelligence-led, and resource is targeted based on an assessment of threat, harm and risk.
“Our focus is on ensuring the safety of London’s streets while maintaining open, honest dialogue about the use of LFR and appropriate safeguards around the technology.”
They added that surveys commissioned by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) showed strong support for the use of facial recognition software in a number of contexts, such as identifying “serious and violent criminals”.
Camden Council told the LDRS that LFR was operated by the police, who had previously presented the technology to the Town Hall scrutiny committee.
At that meeting, Holborn and Covent Garden councillor Awale Olad (Labour) reminded the Met that “around 60 civil liberties organisations” had objected to the use of LFR because of the risks posed to minority groups.
Police representatives at the time said the system looks only for faces and uses a biometric template, and that tests carried out by the Met had produced results showing LFR systems were accurate.
Cllr Olad and the Camden Liberal Democrats were also approached for comment.
A council spokesperson said: “Any CCTV or surveillance system and its use should be accountable to members of the public.
“Residents will want to be reassured that they are not being monitored inappropriately.”
This week, the Met publicly announced that it was once more deploying LFR in the borough’s “crime hotspots”.
Please support The Fitzrovia News. Consider helping us cover our costs by visiting our secure payment page.
Discover more from The Fitzrovia News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
