Civil rights and anti-racism organisations have urged Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley to abandon proposals for live facial recognition technology at the upcoming Notting Hill Carnival.
The coalition, which includes Liberty, the Runnymede Trust, Big Brother Watch, Race on the Agenda, and Human Rights Watch, argues the surveillance system contains inherent racial prejudices.
The 11 groups sent correspondence to Rowley, cautioning that implementing instant face-matching technology during an event honouring African-Caribbean culture would intensify worries regarding discriminatory policing and misuse of Government authority.
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They assert the technology demonstrates reduced precision when identifying women and individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Civil rights and anti-racism organisations have urged Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley to abandon proposals for live facial recognition technology at the upcoming Notting Hill Carnival
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The correspondence, obtained by the Guardian, states: "The choice to deploy LFR at Notting Hill carnival unfairly targets the community that carnival exists to celebrate."
The signatories reference Baroness Casey's independent review, which concluded the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist, noting that public confidence in the force has suffered significant damage due to prejudiced policing practices.
The organisations warned: "Targeting Notting Hill carnival with live facial recognition technology will only exacerbate concerns about abuses of state power and racial discrimination within your force."
The coalition's concerns follow ministerial announcements about expanding facial recognition van deployments to nine police forces throughout England and Wales.
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The 11 groups sent correspondence to Rowley, cautioning that implementing instant face-matching technology
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Anti-knife crime advocate Shaun Thompson has initiated High Court proceedings against the Metropolitan Police following an incident where facial recognition technology incorrectly flagged him as a criminal.
Thompson, a Black British volunteer with Street Fathers youth advocacy group, was encircled by officers and detained for thirty minutes while returning from community work.
Police demanded his fingerprints during the wrongful stop.
Thompson has compared the technology's discriminatory effects to "stop and search on steroids," according to the letter.
The Notting Hill Carnival launched in 1966 in celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture | PAThe campaigners highlight that officers previously operated the system using configurations later proven to disproportionately misidentify Black individuals, with police permitted to self-regulate their usage of the technology.
The Metropolitan Police maintains that facial recognition technology represents an essential tool for public safety, with Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward acknowledging "misconceptions" exist within Black and minority ethnic communities.
Ward emphasised the force would position cameras at carnival entry and exit points, beyond the event's perimeter, to help officers locate individuals presenting safety risks.
The Met reports 580 arrests through facial recognition for serious crimes including rape, domestic violence, knife offences and robbery, with 52 sex offenders detained for breaching conditions.
Ward said: "Independent testing by the National Physical Laboratory found that at the thresholds the MPS uses the system, it is accurate and balanced with regard to ethnicity and gender."