Conservatives Call for Mandatory Facial Recognition in Crime Investigations

The Conservatives have called for the greater use of facial recognition technology to investigate crimes.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp wants to make it a requirement for officers to run images of suspects through facial recognition software, where they have been captured on CCTV, mobile phones or camera doorbells.

He also wants officers to follow up when geo-tagged items - including phones, laptops, tablets, bikes and cars - are pinging their location at a suspect's address, as well as tackling stolen goods being sold in plain sight.

A Home Office spokesperson said the government was investing heavily in facial recognition technology.

"This government is already turning the tide on crime," they added.

Philp said the Conservative's Take Back Our Streets plan would put all three elements into practice, backed up by 10,000 extra police officers, which he claimed would be fully funded by £800 million per year.

"The public expects clear evidence to always be followed up," he said.

"When they show the police an image of a suspect or the location of stolen goods they want action, not just a crime number."

Labour has pledged an extra 13,000 neighbourhood police by the end of this Parliament. An additional 3,814 officers have been hired between April 2025 and March this year.

Philp praised the existing facial recognition database, which contains images of about 10 million people that can be face-matched using AI, but said what was missing was a requirement on a force to always use it.

Similarly, he said, where a stolen device is pinging its location at an address, an officer will be required to knock on the door.

He added that officers would be required to follow listings of stolen goods advertised online and recover belongings where possible.

"These are the basics the public expect," he said.