Police phone app identifies man wanted since 2012 in Cardiff

AI system

System: Operator Initiated Facial Recognition (OIFR) mobile app, South Wales Police and Gwent Police
Model: Not assessed
Release: Not assessed
Provider: Not assessed
Role: Not assessed
Configuration: Not assessed
Inputs and outputs: Not assessed
Autonomy: Not assessed
Workflow: A street encounter in which the person refuses or gives false details. A phone app linked to a reference database that holds the wanted person's image. A warrant record current enough for officers to act on the match.
Human oversight: Not assessed
Relation to AI: The app compared a photograph taken on a police phone to the reference database and returned the match that identified the man. Officers then confirmed the warrant and detained him. The force says National Physical Laboratory testing found the correct match returned as the top result for persons in the database. It says the app returns nothing for people not in it. Neither report names the vendor, the algorithm or a match score. Both rest on the force's figures.
AI contribution: The app compared a photograph taken on a police phone to the reference database and returned the match that identified the man. Officers then confirmed the warrant and detained him. The force says National Physical Laboratory testing found the correct match returned as the top result for persons in the database. It says the app returns nothing for people not in it. Neither report names the vendor, the algorithm or a match score. Both rest on the force's figures.

Benefits

Outcome identifiers: Not assessed
Benefit: A South Wales Police officer's OIFR phone app matched a 38-year-old in Cardiff to a 2012 Polish European arrest warrant for drug dealing and assaulting an officer; he was remanded (July 2025).
Category: Reduced Violence
Status: Not assessed
Beneficiary groups: Organizations. Society.
Beneficiaries: Not assessed
Reach: Not assessed
Distribution and access: Not assessed
Duration: Not assessed
Expected?: Yes
Costs and harms: Not assessed

Measurement

Studies: Not assessed
Study design: Not assessed
Measurement: Not assessed
Setting and sample: Not assessed
Measures: Not assessed
Comparison: Not assessed
Results: Not assessed
Additional value from AI: Not assessed
Limitations: Not assessed
Denominators: Not assessed
Materials for replication: Not assessed

Money

Kind of value: Not assessed
Amount: Not assessed
Currency and prices: Not assessed
Period and unit: Not assessed
Realization: Not assessed
Recipients and payers: Not assessed
Gross or net: Not assessed
Included costs: Not assessed
Comparison: Not assessed
Method: Not assessed
Return and payback: Not assessed

People and places

Participants: Operator: South Wales Police (with Gwent Police).
Jurisdictions: Benefit: Cardiff, United Kingdom. Operator: United Kingdom.
Ownership and control: Not assessed
Dependencies: Not assessed
Cross-border connections: Not assessed
Geopolitical implications: Not assessed

Follow-up

Conditions for replication: The app is used after an attempted engagement and only where necessary and proportionate, per the force's policy. The match is confirmed against the warrant before detention.
Replication attempts: Not assessed
Later findings: Not assessed
Availability: Not assessed
Institutional decision: Not assessed
Grounds: Not assessed
Action and result: Not assessed
Success criterion: Not assessed

Evidence

Source numbers: AIBD-0384-source-0001–0003
Citations: Numbered references below.
Language: Not assessed
Source relationships: Independent
Original evidence: Not assessed
Access and versions: Not assessed
Supported findings: Not assessed
Evidence links: Not assessed
Evidence strength: Not assessed
Missing evidence: Not assessed

Grades

Assessed benefits: Organizations. Society.
Depth: Organizations: 2. Society: 1.
Reasons: Organizations: South Wales Police identified in Cardiff a man wanted on a 2012 European arrest warrant and remanded him. It reports 10 arrests from 50 app searches. A measurable result for the forces, on their own figures as relayed by the press. Society: One man wanted for drug dealing and assaulting an officer with a weapon in Poland was taken into custody for extradition proceedings. The reports give no further harm prevented. So the public benefit is the execution of a warrant.
Observed or intended: Not assessed
Rubric: Not assessed
Assessor and date: Not assessed
Alternative assessments: Not assessed
Fill: Independently reported

Entry details

Kind: Not assessed
Related entries: Not assessed
Field: Law enforcement / identity verification. Street identity checks of people who refuse or give false details.
Purpose: Built to confirm the identity of a person an officer suspects is missing, at risk or wanted when they cannot or will not give details. This identification was that use.
Dates: Date basis unassessed: 2025 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
Stage: Not assessed
Version: SHA-256: bfe51851999d…

References

Other identifiers: oecd_aim: 2025-07-14-7341.
Category mappings: Not assessed
Brief: Not assessed
Revisions: 3 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.

Sources

News report Independent author

Dalling, R. (2025). Man wanted since 2012 arrested after facial recognition app match. Wales Online, July 14, 2025.
News report Independent author

Devonshire, J. (2025). More than 500 officers in Wales now trained to use real-time facial recognition app. Emergency Services Times, July 15, 2025.
Registry label Independent author

OECD.AI (2025). Facial Recognition AI App Leads to Arrest of Fugitive Drug Dealer After 13 Years. OECD AI Incidents and Hazards Monitor, 2025-07-14.