As if living in Croydon wasn't bad enough

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed its first permanent installation of live facial recognition (LFR) cameras is coming this summer and the lucky location will be the South London suburb of Croydon.

The two cameras will be installed in the city center in an effort to combat crime and will be attached to buildings and lamp posts on North End and London Road. According to the police they will only be turned on when officers are in the area and in a position to make an arrest if a criminal is spotted.

The installation follows a two-year trial in the area where police vans fitted with the camera have been patrolling the streets matching passersby to its database of suspects or criminals, leading to hundreds of arrests. The Met claims the system can alert them in seconds if a wanted wrong'un is spotted, and if the person gets the all-clear, the image of their face will be deleted.

"I am currently working with the central team to install fixed LFR cameras in Croydon town center," Mitch Carr, the police force's neighborhood policing superintendent, told local leaders, the Times reports.

...read more at theregister.com