South Wales Police will switch on Live Facial Recognition (LFR) cameras in Bridgend town centre this Wednesday, with further deployments planned for Friday 8 August and Wednesday 27 August.
The tech scans faces in real time and compares them to a watchlist of people wanted by police or courts, or flagged as vulnerable or missing. If a match is found, an alert is triggered and reviewed by an officer before any action is taken.
Police say the system helps locate suspects and protect the public — but critics have long raised privacy concerns, especially around surveillance in public spaces. Officers will be on hand to explain the technology and offer demos to anyone curious.
“We always welcome a chat with anyone who sees us and is interested in knowing more,” the force said in a statement.
Images of people not on the watchlist are automatically deleted, and alerts are wiped within 24 hours. CCTV footage used by the system is retained for 31 days.
South Wales Police has used LFR at concerts, city centres, and major public events — including the Wales Airshow and Swansea city centre patrols. Earlier this month, the force also rolled out a mobile facial recognition app to frontline officers, allowing them to identify individuals using a phone camera.
The technology is supplied by NEC’s NeoFace system, which underwent independent testing to assess fairness and accuracy across age, gender and ethnicity. Police say the system is used “responsibly, proportionately and fairly” — but watchdogs and civil liberties groups remain unconvinced.
