United Kingdom, Sussex

Sussex Police

Live Facial Recognition, supplied by NEC Software

OperationalOfficial publicationPAI-91B59491

Body
Sussex Police
Country
United Kingdom
Area
Sussex
Technology
Live Facial Recognition
Supplier
NEC Software
Programme
Surrey and Sussex joint LFR vans
Status
Operational
In routine use by the named body, on the evidence of a public source.
Stage
In use now
Since
November 2025
Legal basis
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, as cited by the forces. No dedicated statutory basis.
Oversight
Deployments authorised at superintendent rank or above. Both forces publish a deployment register, and Sussex additionally publishes its standard operating procedure. Deployments are notified at least seven days in advance.
Evidence
Official publication
Police force, government department or public body publication
Source
Sussex Police LFR page; Surrey Police LFR page and register; Brighton and Hove News, 22 December 2025
Last checked
Record code
PAI-91B59491

Notes

Surrey Police and Sussex Police run live facial recognition as a joint programme: the forces describe "a joint bid to obtain two live facial recognition (LFR) vans", funded by the Home Office. Each force has its own record, linked by the programme name.

Surrey Police publishes a running deployment register covering Redhill, Staines, Camberley, Ashford, Epsom, Woking and Guildford, all of which are in Surrey.

The start month is now supported for Sussex from a different source. The Surrey register lists Surrey locations only, so it cannot settle a Sussex date. Brighton and Hove News (22 December 2025) reports that the vans were first deployed in Redhill and Crawley in November 2025, and that the deployment in Western Road, Brighton, on 2 December 2025, which led to the first arrest, was the second of its type in Sussex. Crawley is the Sussex location; Redhill is in Surrey.

NEC Software is named by the forces in describing the Home Office-commissioned testing of the technology, which identifies the supplier but is not a separate procurement record.

Update, November 2026. Sussex Police's own live facial recognition page, read for this review, describes the joint bid with Surrey for two Home Office-funded vans, says deployment locations are published at least seven days in advance, names NEC Software in describing the Home Office-commissioned testing, cites common law, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010, UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and says only superintendents and above can authorise a deployment. The page as read listed no past Sussex deployments, so the November 2025 start rests on the news report above rather than a force publication.

Other bodies in Surrey and Sussex joint LFR vans

All records in this programme
Other bodies in Surrey and Sussex joint LFR vans
DeploymentCountrySupplierSinceStatusChecked
Surrey PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomSurrey NEC Software 2025 Operational

Live Facial Recognition elsewhere in United Kingdom

See them in the tracker
Live Facial Recognition elsewhere in United Kingdom
DeploymentCountrySupplierSinceStatusChecked
British Transport PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomLondon rail and Underground network NEC (NeoFace M40) 2026 Trial
Metropolitan PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomLondon NEC (NeoFace) 2020 Operational
South Wales PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomWales NEC (NeoFace) 2017 Operational
Essex PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomForce area Corsight AI (Apollo 4), with Digital Barriers 2024 Operational
West Yorkshire PoliceLive and Retrospective Facial Recognition United KingdomForce area Not specified in source 2025 Operational
Greater Manchester PoliceLive and Retrospective Facial Recognition United KingdomForce area Not specified in source 2025 Operational
Police ScotlandLive Facial Recognition United KingdomScotland Not applicable -- not yet deployed 2024 Proposed
Merseyside PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomMerseyside, including Southport and Birkenhead town centres — 2025 Operational
Thames Valley PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomThames Valley, first deployed in Oxford city centre — 2025 Operational
Northamptonshire PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomNorthamptonshire — 2023 Trial
Bedfordshire PoliceLive Facial Recognition United KingdomBedfordshire NEC (NeoFace Watch), according to NEC 2025 Operational
Hertfordshire ConstabularyLive Facial Recognition United KingdomHertfordshire — 2026 Operational