United Kingdom, Merseyside
Merseyside Police
Operator-initiated (handheld) facial recognition
TrialJournalismPAI-0DDCC990
- Body
- Merseyside Police
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Area
- Merseyside
- Technology
- Operator-initiated (handheld) facial recognition
- Supplier
- Not stated in the source
- Status
- Trial
Being tested in live conditions under a time-limited pilot or trial. - Stage
- In use now
- Since
- Not known
- Legal basis
- Not stated in the source
- Oversight
- Not stated in the source
- Evidence
- Journalism
Named reporting by a reputable outlet - Source
- Liberty Investigates and The Times, 5 May 2026
- Last checked
- Record code
PAI-0DDCC990
Notes
Liberty Investigates and The Times reported on 5 May 2026 that Merseyside Police is one of several forces to give officers access to operator-initiated facial recognition (OIFR) on handheld devices. The force told them it used OIFR on 125 officers' phones in one pilot area in November, and that it is used to identify people "where a legitimate policing purpose exists" and "only when other reasonable methods of identification have been exhausted". Force documents quoted in the article describe OIFR as "a valuable policing tool" supporting its common law policing duties. The article does not name a supplier or give a start date or the year of the November pilot. The Home Office factsheet of December 2025 lists only South Wales Police and Gwent Police as using OIFR.
Other systems used by Merseyside Police
| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merseyside PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomMerseyside, including Southport and Birkenhead town centres | — | 2025 | Operational | |
| Merseyside PoliceBobbi AI virtual assistant (non-emergency enquiries) | United KingdomMerseyside | — | — | Operational |
Operator-initiated (handheld) facial recognition elsewhere in United Kingdom
See them in the tracker| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan PoliceOperator-Initiated Facial Recognition (handheld) | United KingdomLondon; West Yorkshire and Thames Valley reported | Home Office-supported deployment | 2026 | Trial | |
| South Wales PoliceOperator-Initiated Facial Recognition (handheld) | United KingdomSouth Wales | — | — | Operational | |
| Gwent PoliceOperator-Initiated Facial Recognition (handheld) | United KingdomGwent | — | — | Operational | |
| West Yorkshire PoliceOperator-initiated (handheld) facial recognition | United KingdomWest Yorkshire | — | — | Proposed |