The UK government is expanding the deployment of live facial recognition (LFR) technology to assist police in identifying and apprehending suspects involved in serious crimes such as rape and violent assaults. This initiative involves the rollout of 10 new facial recognition vans across seven police forces in England, including regions like Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. The vans use artificial intelligence to scan faces of passers-by and match them against police watch lists, aiming to accelerate suspect identification and enhance neighborhood patrols by 2029. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Minister for Crime and Policing Dame Diana Johnson have defended the technology as a powerful tool for policing, emphasizing its role in targeting serious offenders rather than enabling total surveillance. However, privacy concerns have been raised, particularly regarding the covert use of over 150 million images sourced from passport and visa applications, as well as immigration records, without explicit parliamentary or public consent. The government is also pursuing AI-driven crime prediction mapping, coupled with plans to increase law enforcement personnel by 13,000. The expansion of LFR vans represents a notable escalation in the UK's use of surveillance technology to combat crime.