London's Metropolitan Police is piloting a retail crime platform that lets stores instantly report shoplifting incidents and share CCTV footage with officers. The pilot, running since January in Lewisham and central London, has achieved a 21.4% positive outcome rate compared to the Met's 14% average, with 482 shoplifters charged in four months. The platform does involve facial recognition for identifying suspects from submitted footage. Separately, UK retailers including Sainsbury's are deploying Facewatch live facial recognition in stores, which has drawn privacy criticism and led to incidents of wrongful ejection, including a case where a 62-year-old woman was added to a Facewatch database over a disputed £0.39 paracetamol purchase.
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