Live facial recognition rollout amid major policing reforms

Police forces across Wales and England will be able to use live facial recognition vans as part of the biggest shake-up in policing in decades.

An existing 10 vans will rise to 50, rolled out across both countries, to catch criminals on police watchlists – and will be overseen by a national centre on artificial intelligence (AI).

The move comes as part of major changes revealed in the Government’s White Paper on police reforms, which seeks to also create a “British FBI” called the National Police Service (NPS) and drastically cut the number of police forces.

Plans already announced also include a new “licence to practice” for police officers, and powers for the Home Secretary to sack underperforming chief constables and intervene in failing forces.

Speaking in the Commons, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out how the policing structures are “outdated” and called policing the “last great unreformed public service”.

The plans are expected to be introduced in stages, with some needing to pass legislation.

The NPS – with the aim to tackle serious crime – will merge the existing National Crime Agency, Counter Terror Policing, the National Police Air Service and National Roads Policing all under a single organisation.

Work to set up the NPS will start this year, but it is believed it will be finalised in the next Parliament.

A review will also look at how many regional forces to cut and report back this summer, with some mergers expected to take place by the next election.