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A new procurement framework worth up to £20m has been launched to support the rollout of live facial recognition (LFR) software across UK policing.
Set up by BlueLight Commercial, the framework is now in place to allow police forces to procure facial recognition solutions without needing to run separate competitive tenders. The framework runs from April 2025 until March 2029.
Three suppliers have been awarded places: Bedroq, Digital Barriers Services, and NEC Software Solutions. According to the contract notice published via Bidstats, the software will enable live image feeds to be matched against watchlists, with automatic alerts sent to law enforcement when a match is detected.
The creation of the framework is intended to support police in acquiring LFR tools that can assist with identifying individuals of interest in real time – whether for locating wanted suspects or supporting public safety operations in crowded environments.
While the tender documents do not specify how many forces are expected to use the framework, it enables buyers from across the policing network to access pre-approved solutions from listed suppliers.
More information about how the software will be deployed, and under what operational policies, has not yet been disclosed.
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