The Metropolitan Police have announced that live facial recognition cameras will be used on the approach to and exit from this year's Notting Hill Carnival as part of extensive measures to cut crime. 

The Notting Hill carnival is an annual Caribbean celebration that brings together over two million people from all backgrounds, age groups and communities. However, the busy August bank holiday event is often heavily policed and forces questions about the event's safety to the forefront of public discussion. As a result police are often quick to deploy pre-emptive strategies to repel crime, in 2017, in the three weeks running up to NHC, police made 656 arrests, and 313 arrests during the two days of the Carnival itself, compared with 454 the previous year.

This year, the innovative LFR technology will capture carnival-goers “outside the boundaries of the event" itself, in order to help officers "identify and intercept" people who pose a potential threat to the public and including those wanted by police, missing persons, and individuals subject to sexual harm prevention orders. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward, the police commander for this year's event, acknowledged the challenging balancing act the police must execute to crackdown on crime and uphold the fundamental traditions and values of Carnival. Ward stated: "Regrettably, amongst the millions of carnivalists who have attended over many years there has been a tiny minority of individuals intent on causing serious harm to others, including violent crime and sexual offences."

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Ward went on to state: "Their actions stand in stark contrast to the traditions and values of Carnival and I welcome those voices in the community who have stood up to condemn violence and serious criminality at the event." One such heinous act of criminality was the 2024 murder of Cher Maximen, who was fatally stabbed at carnival in front of her 3-year-old daughter as she tried to protect her from a fight that broke out between several men. Despite the acknowledgment of the risk for serious harm at an event that is supposed to positively bring communities together, some are still against the deployment of LFR technology at the family-filled event. 

Big Brother Watch interim director Rebecca Vincent has called for the plans to be scrapped, stating: "It is worrying to see the Met resorting to the use of invasive live facial recognition technology at this year's Notting Hill Carnival after scrapping it when a prior trial led to widespread outcry on the grounds of bias. We know that LFR is less accurate in scanning minority faces, so using it to target attendees of this beloved cultural celebration is particularly sinister. The Met should channel its resources into a proper on-the-ground police presence to deal with actual criminals rather than compromising the privacy rights of millions of innocent carnival-goers and local residents."

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Other safety initiatives being deployed this year include a partnership with Idris Elba’s Elba Hope Foundation to combat knife crime, the deployment of 7,000 officers daily, stop and search powers, and pre-emptive arrests.