MET POLICE ROLL OUT FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY Tackling London’s worst shoplifters

Britain’s biggest police force is using facial recognition technology to tackle London’s worst shoplifters by matching CCTV stills to mugshots.

The Metropolitan Police said 149 suspects were identified within days after asking the capital’s 12 leading retailers last month for images of their 30 most prolific unidentified offenders.

Some of the suspects have links to serious crime, while all of them have previously been arrested for crimes including drug dealing, sexual offences, burglary, violence and possession of firearms.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called the results “game-changing” as his force tries to crack down on shoplifting, with its rise blamed on the cost of living crisis and organised crime.

The government has come under increasing pressure from retailers to get a grip on the retail crime responsible for the loss of an estimated £1.9bn in revenue in the UK each year.

Earlier this month, policing minister Chris Philp suggested passport photos could be integrated into the police database to find a CCTV match.

The Met said its facial recognition technology can match features against police mugshots in about a minute – and officers will now work with stores to build a case against the suspects identified from 302 CCTV stills and track them down.