Live Facial Recognition continues to keep communities safe with registered sex offender arrests

A number of registered sex offenders have been arrested during the first three months of our deployment of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology.

We have been using LFR since October 2025,  resulting in 40 arrests with one in five for registered sex offenders.

Out of the 40 people arrested, 30 have been charged with various offences.

At one of the most recent deployments, John Thompson (10/06/1982), from Manchester, was caught in Piccadilly Gardens and has now been charged with 36 offences.

He was stopped on suspicion of breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Thompson was charged with 35 breaches of his SHPO and a breach of his sex offender notification requirements - he will next appear at Manchester Crown Court on 16 February 2026 and remains in custody.

The two vans, supplied by the Home Office, have been deployed 23 times by Greater Manchester Police since the first operation in Sale town centre in October 2025 – they have also been used by other forces in the north west.

The most recent deployments in Manchester city centre and Manchester Airport saw a number of arrests, including:

Piccadilly Gardens: Man arrested for stalking offences after failing to answer police bail in November 2025
Piccadilly Gardens: Man arrested on suspicion of possession of indecent images
Piccadilly Gardens: Man arrested for being wanted for domestic offences since September 2024
Manchester Airport: Man arrested and released pending further enquiries on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to supply

Other notable successes have included the arrest of a suspect wanted since May 2025 for firearms offences and the safeguarding of a vulnerable man who had left an NHS facility.

The deployment at the match between Manchester United and Manchester City at the weekend was the first time GMP has used LFR at a football match.

Inspector Jon Middleton said: “This is exactly why we have been using LFR - to keep our communities safe, catch wanted suspects and make sure people are adhering to their court conditions.

“This proactive approach allows officers to intervene more quickly before suspects can commit further offences, reducing the risk to the public.

"We will continue to deploy across Greater Manchester to support our neighbourhood policing teams."

Our watchlists are made up of vulnerable missing persons, people wanted for a crime or by the courts, or who are under certain conditions that could be breached.

The cameras focus on a specific area or crowd and detect faces compared to a pre-prepared watchlist with an alert issued immediately if there is a match when officers can take action.

Sergeant Ryan Magee, from our Sexual Offenders Management Unit, said: "The introduction of Live Facial Recognition technology has seen significant improvements in public protection and proactive policing.

"This development has been driven by close collaboration between the dedicated LFR officers and the SOMU Intelligence Team, with additional support from officers from Project Servator, TAU, and neighbourhood policing teams.

"Together we have established a co-ordinated and effective approach to identifying and disrupting high risk sexual offenders.

"Since its deployment, LFR has quickly proven to be an invaluable safeguarding asset.

"The technology enables officers to conduct real time identification, allowing early intervention and preventing potential harm before it occurs.

"In a relatively short space of time, LFR activity has resulted in a substantial number of intelligence-led stops and arrests.

"Targeted operations have significantly enhanced the force’s ability to intercept dangerous individuals, including those seeking to travel with the intent to commit offences.

"We will continue working with the LFR team on future operations as we look to further develop our ability to protect the public."

From October 2025 to January 2026:

• Deployments - 40
• Alerts - 105
• Arrests - 40
• Charges - 30
• Faces scanned - 361, 819
• Over 20% of the arrets have been Registered Sex Offenders
• 10 additional arrests as a result of LFR staff and officers being present

Upcoming deployments are planned for Manchester city centre and Stockport town centre – there is more information on our website: https://www.gmp.police.uk/police-forces/greater-manchester-police/areas/greater-manchester-force-content/au/about-us/live-facial-recognition/