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Western Australia: police live facial recognition

This dossier tracks Western Australia’s police live facial recognition trial, reported results, safeguards and evaluation.

Last updated : 1 key moments
Perth skyline in 2015.
Perth, June 2015. Archive photograph; it does not show the police system. — David Stanley / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ — 7 juin 2015, sans modification.

Where things stand

On 2 November 2026, police publish results of a trial ended on 31 October: 1,380,882 face scans, 292 alerts including nine incorrect ones and 122 recorded arrests. An internal evaluation is to follow.

Reported information

Western Australia police publish results of 1.38 million face scans

Western Australia Police published results on 2 November 2026 of its five-month live facial recognition trial, which ended on 31 October. The force records 1,380,882 face scans, 292 alerts including nine incorrect ones, and 122 arrests in total.

Perth skyline in 2015.
Perth, June 2015. Archive photograph; it does not show the police system. — David Stanley / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ — 7 juin 2015, sans modification.

Cameras on or near marked police vehicles were deployed 100 times across 43 locations. Officers had to review each alert, which alone did not provide grounds for arrest. Police say non-matching data was automatically deleted.

The force’s highlighted 0.00065% error figure divides nine false alerts by all scans. Relative to the 292 alerts, the figure is about 3.1%, a different measure that does not count wanted people missed. The summary does not specify how many arrests followed directly from an alert. An internal evaluation is to examine performance, community effects and safeguards.

Sources 3