London's Metropolitan Police is trialing new retail technology to help curtail the city's pervasive shoplifting problem… and it doesn't rely on live facial recognition (LFR).
The Met describes the technology as a platform that retail stores can use to report incidents of shoplifting "instantly," sharing CCTV footage alongside the report.
"This gives officers immediate access to high‑quality evidence at the point of reporting and helps identify repeat offenders operating across boroughs," the Met's announcement states.
The pilot program kicked off in January, honing in on stores in Lewisham and central London, and has seen "positive outcome rates" well above the force's average.
These are defined as arrests, charges, or convictions. Pilot data shows success rates standing at 21.4 percent, above the Met's average of 14 percent.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan lauded the trial, but made no commitments as regards a wider rollout of the tech across the capital.
"Backed by record funding from City Hall, we're redoubling our efforts to crack down on shoplifting and antisocial behavior across London," said Khan. "Advances in technology are a real game-changer – allowing retailers and shop staff to report shoplifting incidents remotely using digital platforms and send evidence such as CCTV footage in real-time to help police identify culprits, make arrests, and secure prosecutions. This is already showing great results in parts of London.
"Latest figures show we're making progress reducing shoplifting in London, but there's more to do. The police will continue to work closely with businesses and use plain-clothed officers, extensive CCTV networks, and increased visible patrols to catch, arrest, and prosecute offenders, building a safer London for everyone."
Despite the fact that London is still a hotspot for thefts, especially of mobile phones, the Met said shoplifting cases were reduced by 3.7 percent between April 2025 and March 2026, representing around 3,200 fewer offenses.
The hope is that this figure will fall further as it becomes easier for retailers to report crimes together with CCTV footage. Top 20 retailers in the city account for 92.1 percent of all recorded shoplifting incidents, the police said.
Just one in five shoplifting cases is reported to the Met with accompanying CCTV footage. Those that are filed with video evidence, however, usually result in one of the force's positive outcomes.
Around 80 percent of cases filed with CCTV footage lead to the shoplifter being identified. Police take the footage and run it through facial recognition software (you didn't think FR was entirely out of the picture, did you?), which usually leads to a positive ID match.
In the four months since the pilot began, the Met has managed to charge 482 shoplifters, and it hopes it can improve upon last year's success in countering shoplifting, which saw the force increase its solved cases by around 1,800 – a near-doubling compared to the previous year.
"Cracking down on shoplifting is a clear priority for the Met," said deputy commissioner Matt Jukes. "By strengthening neighbourhood teams, using better intelligence and focusing on hotspot locations, we are arresting repeat offenders who cause the most harm to retail staff and local businesses.
"We're also using new technology to work faster and more effectively, giving officers a much clearer picture of offending and helping build stronger cases. Where we have trialled this retail crime technology, more than one in five shoplifting cases are being solved.
"Strong partnership with retailers is essential. When crimes are reported promptly and CCTV is shared quickly, officers can take decisive action."
Sara Tetlow, safer business network partnership manager at the Met, said 83 percent of businesses in Lewisham reported feeling safer just four months after the pilot.
In addition to the Met's latest initiative, retailers have taken their own steps to secure stores using self-sourced facial recognition technology, entirely separate from the Met's own, ever-expanding rollout across the city.
Sainsbury's is one example of a major UK retailer that now uses LFR in its stores. In September 2025, it announced an eight-week trial of Facewatch's LFR platform in its stores, much to the dismay of privacy activists.
The Sainsbury's trial appears to have been deemed successful, as Facewatch cameras were still running in its Elephant and Castle store earlier this year, although there won't be total agreement from those on the outside looking in.
The supermarket giant was forced to issue an apology after in-store staff, the ones responsible for interpreting the LFR flags, wrongly ejected a shopper following a camera's positive ID match for a known criminal.
It turned out that the Facewatch camera correctly identified a known offender, but when sending the report to staff, an in-store security staffer approached and ejected the wrong man from the store, highlighting how human error can still influence the outcomes of automated technology.
UK retailers that currently deploy Facewatch cameras include B&M, Budgens, Costcutter, Southern Co-op, Spar, and Sports Direct, while others, such as Iceland, began trialling it last year.
One woman launched a case with the UK's Information Commissioner's Office in 2025 after claiming she was falsely added to a Facewatch database when retailer Home Bargains alleged she stole a packet of paracetamol worth around £0.39 ($0.53).
According to The Guardian, which first reported the story, the woman, 62 at the time, has a long-running habit of always purchasing a packet of the painkiller medication when out shopping.
UK shoppers are limited to purchasing two packets of paracetamol per trip for safety reasons, and the woman's daughter said that her mother simply likes to maintain a healthy supply.
After purchasing the usual packs of painkillers during one shopping trip at Home Bargains' Chadwell Heath store last year, security stopped her and questioned her over the number of boxes in her bag, which she said included the ones she bought at the time as well as a pack purchased at a previous date.
The woman was moved along but refused re-entry at a later date. Staff told her that her biometric data was added to a Facewatch database because of the incident, and she was not allowed to return to that store. ®
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