Why Most Facial Recognition Deployments Fail and How to Get It Right

Why Ethics Come First

Facial recognition technology affects fundamental rights and freedoms, which makes ethical deployment the non-negotiable foundation for success. 

By establishing accountability first and building capabilities within those boundaries, organisations create systems that win trust through transparency. Research shows that public support follows when authorities are open about objectives and enforce accountability. Without this foundation, even technically sound deployments risk failing because legitimacy, not just functionality, determines success.

The Three Steps You Shouldn’t Skip

I have identified three fundamental requirements that consistently determine implementation success or failure.

Technical Infrastructure

Outdated infrastructure is one of the most common and costly pitfalls. Live facial recognition requires substantial bandwidth, low-latency networks, and edge processing. The best practice is to conduct a rigorous infrastructure audit before procurement, ensuring upgrades are in place to support reliable performance.

Operational Integration

The most frequent failure point is treating facial recognition as a standalone tool rather than part of an integrated workflow. Too often, alerts appear in siloed systems, disconnected from incident management platforms.

When implemented well, the technology fits seamlessly into existing decision-making processes. Officers receive alerts through familiar interfaces, verify matches with standard tools, and process identifications within established procedures. In short, this control room-led approach, backed up by intelligence, should feel like a natural extension of capability, not an add-on.

Governance and Oversight

Governance is not a bureaucratic extra; it is an operational safeguard. Failures consistently trace back to weak oversight, leading to public controversy and loss of trust.

Strong governance means clear policies developed with community input, thorough Data Protection Impact Assessments, robust access controls, and transparent oversight mechanisms. These measures provide not just compliance, but confidence, ensuring there are credible answers when stakeholders demand accountability.

Getting The Implementation Right

For organisations considering facial recognition, success begins long before technology procurement. The first steps are community engagement, legal compliance, and the development of ethical frameworks and governance structures. Only once these are in place should technology options be assessed.

Clear justification is essential to define specific use cases, establish accountability mechanisms, and demonstrate why deployment is necessary. Alongside this, conduct a frank assessment of technical readiness. Can existing infrastructure support the bandwidth, low latency, and processing demands? Are command centre systems capable of real-time integration? Where gaps exist, plan and budget for upgrades from the outset.

Integration strategies should be developed from day one. Work with operational staff to design how alerts are presented, cases are verified, and identifications are processed through case management systems. Finally, we should plan for long-term sustainability, not just launch. That means ongoing training, proactive maintenance, regular audits, and continuous engagement with the community you serve.

Moving Forward Responsibly

Facial recognition has significant potential to enhance public safety, accelerate investigations, and protect vulnerable people. However, unlocking this potential depends on approaches prioritising ethics, integration, accountability, and technical readiness.

Organisations with the best outcomes aren't always those with the biggest budgets or most advanced algorithms. They are the ones that first established ethical principles, built strong governance structures, and carefully integrated technology into existing operational frameworks, with the real differentiator being secure data sharing that enables councils to share with police, healthcare with councils, and seamless flow across agencies.

That is the crucial distinction between deployment and implementation. Deployment makes technology available. Implementation makes it effective, ethical, and sustainable within the complex realities of modern policing.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help your organisation implement facial recognition in a way that delivers real results while maintaining public trust.