In a statement on Thursday, 1 August 2024, UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer has vowed to clampdown on criminal and violent behaviour following the recent public disorder in Southport, in which he pledged a "wider deployment of facial recognition" as part of a new National Violent Disorder Programme (NVDP).
In addition to using local insight and data to develop a "national understanding of where these criminals are operating," Starmer said the NVDP "will also consider how we can deploy facial recognition technology, which is already used by some forces, more widely across the country."
Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, NPCC Chair, said: "We look forward to working with government and receiving more details on the creation of a National Violent Disorder Programme and further work on tools such as Live Facial Recognition."
In a statement responding to the news, Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch, said: "The Prime Minister's alarming pledge today to roll out facial recognition in an apparent response to recent disorder is a pledge to plunder more vital police resources on mass surveillance that threatens rather than protects democracy. This AI surveillance turns members of the public into walking ID cards, is dangerously inaccurate and has no explicit legal basis in the UK. Whilst common in Russia and China, live facial recognition is banned in Europe."
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