Devon & Cornwall Police use live facial recognition van at Boardmasters festival

Devon & Cornwall Police deployed a live facial recognition (LFR) van equipped with 360‑degree cameras to scan the crowd outside the Boardmasters music festival in Newquay, Cornwall. The system creates a biometric template from live video and compares it in real time against a police watchlist of individuals wanted for drug‑related offences, other crimes or with an intelligence interest. Images that do not match are automatically deleted within seconds, and any potential match is reviewed by a trained officer before any engagement.

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said the technology provides an additional tool to locate wanted people quickly and keep communities safe, while emphasizing transparency and proportionality. Chief Inspector Peter Shabytah noted the van will operate from Thursday to Saturday, with signage posted in advance, and that officers will decide the outcome of a match, which could range from a warning to an arrest. The deployment, the first of its kind in Cornwall, has sparked controversy from civil‑rights groups who argue it amounts to mass surveillance and lacks specific legislative oversight.