The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has backed the use of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology as a means for officers to identify individuals on watch lists, especially as its implementation approaches for the Notting Hill Carnival.
Sir Mark Rowley addressed criticisms from civil liberties and anti-racism organizations urging the police to abandon LFR, which they claim casts individuals as “potential suspects,” during the holiday celebration.
“Our objective is to maintain Carnival as a safe and welcoming event for everyone. From an operational standpoint, we believe that LFR plays a significant role in achieving this goal,” Sir Mark stated in a correspondence.
He noted that nearly 350 individuals were apprehended at last year’s Carnival for various offenses, including serious crimes like homicide, rape, and the possession of weapons.
On Sunday, 11 organizations sent a letter to Sir Mark, condemning LFR as “a mass surveillance method that regards all Carnival attendees as potential offenders and is unsuitable for one of London’s major cultural events.”
They expressed their dismay at the decision to reinstate this technology at the Carnival and raised concerns about its potential inaccuracy, particularly affecting women and people of color.
Sir Mark emphasized that the police had crafted a comprehensive and detailed plan to ensure the safety of the more than one million expected Carnival attendees.
He acknowledged the previous deployment of LFR at Notting Hill Carnival in 2016 and 2017, stating that it failed to gain public trust at that time.
“The technology was still in its infancy during that period, and the performance of the algorithm was limited. Additionally, the legal and oversight frameworks have changed significantly since then,” he explained.
According to him, advancements in technology have led to “significant improvements” in the algorithm’s efficacy.
“Our operational strategy has also been refined; for instance, we are not utilizing LFR within the Carnival’s designated area,” he noted.
“These advancements demonstrate our commitment to learning from past experiences and enhancing our approach to ensuring public safety while building community trust.”
The organizations expressing concern included Liberty, Big Brother Watch, and the Runnymede Trust. They highlighted an ongoing judicial review initiated by Shaun Thompson, a Black London resident who claims he was incorrectly identified and detained by this system.
Their letter emphasized: “Notting Hill Carnival is an event that specifically honors the British African Caribbean community, yet the [Metropolitan Police] is opting to deploy a technology that has a well-documented record of producing inaccurate results and exhibiting racial bias.”
Sir Mark responded by stating that the police had carefully chosen an LFR algorithm that “does not function in a manner that demonstrates bias.”
He added that measures were in place to utilize this technology fairly and without discrimination.
Pointing out the number of arrests from the previous year, he remarked that a small percentage of Carnival-goers “have used the event as an opportunity to commit serious offenses.”
“Our implementation of LFR is part of a broader strategy aimed at locating, disrupting, and deterring the few individuals who pose threats,” he stated.
In conclusion, he remarked, “When we know LFR can assist in locating individuals the police need to question—especially those who present a public safety concern to the many celebrating at Carnival—it is entirely reasonable to ask: why would we not use it in this scenario?”
