Drones are to be used to tackle the wave of thefts and stabbings in London as part of an expansion of technology by the Met Police.
The force will also introduce live facial recognition (LFR) across the UK's capital to find and arrest people wanted for serious crimes including rape, as well as increasing the use of AI processing as part of investigations.
The Met has been experimenting with drones to combat street crime, in particular mobile phone thefts, which have in recent years soared to what has been described as “epidemic” levels. That has dented London’s reputation as a safe city.
The drone plan comes after the Met launched a pilot initiative in which they used drones to deal with incidents in real time in the West End, Hyde Park and Islington areas of London.
They provided live information and intelligence, tracked suspects and helped officers to make faster, safer decisions, the force said. There are now three drone sites across London, with nine drones being sent to 200 incidents every week – on average two minutes after a call is received. Drones are increasingly the first police presence at a crime scene.
Met Commissioner Mark Rowley described the expansion of technology as a “turning point for policing in London”. By this time next year, the force will have drone coverage in every borough, he added.
“Drones are already transforming how we respond to incidents – getting visuals from the scene in minutes, giving officers critical intelligence and helping us act faster and more safely,” he said.
“Now we are scaling that capability across London and working with partners to create a truly integrated, city-wide drone network.”
Mr Rowley will introduce LFR with static cameras in areas such as the West End, building on the success of a pilot initiative in the south London borough of Croydon. Since the start of 2024, LFR has helped officers to locate and arrest more than 2,000 dangerous offenders.
The Met will also use AI-powered video analytics to analyse the large amount of CCTV footage captured across London, helping investigators find evidence faster. The use of AI in 23 major cases, including homicide investigations, and covering more than 16,000 hours of CCTV has been analysed by the Met.
The force found that has resulted in a reduction in the time need to review footage that is equal to 454 officer days, which it says has freed up resources and allowed faster progress in investigations.
Mr Rowley emphasised that police forces are in a race to stay ahead of criminals who are “already using technology to become more organised, more connected and harder to catch”.
“Right now, policing is trying to keep up using systems that are too slow and too restrictive. If that does not change, we won’t succeed,” he said.
The Met have said the increased use of drones will pave the way for their use across all emergency services in London.
