A joined-up approach to preventing and reporting pharmacy crime

A joined-up approach to preventing and reporting pharmacy crime

Facewatch will demonstrate how pharmacies can prevent repeat offending, manage incidents and create police-ready evidence through one joined-up crime management platform.

Help is at hand for pharmacies looking for a more effective way to prevent crime, protect colleagues and improve the reporting of incidents to police.

At The Pharmacy Show 2026, Facewatch will demonstrate PharmacyProtect, a new proposition combining crime prevention using live facial recognition with incident reporting, case management and police-ready evidence workflows.

Rather than relying on separate systems, PharmacyProtect will give pharmacy operators one governed platform through which they can identify known repeat offenders as they enter a pharmacy, record incidents, manage evidence and produce reports that can support police action.

The live facial recognition element provides an early warning to trained pharmacy staff when someone previously involved in criminal behaviour enters a protected location. Each potential match is checked using two algorithms and verified by a specialist human reviewer before an alert is sent, helping the system deliver 99.98% operational accuracy.

PharmacyProtect will sit within the new Facewatch Crime Management Platform, due to launch soon. The platform will also include a planned capability to notify police in real time when one of the most serious known offenders enters a protected location, subject to the appropriate data-sharing arrangements.

The aim is to connect crime prevention and reporting more effectively, helping teams respond before an incident escalates, while making it easier to capture the information police need when an offence does take place.

This joined-up approach has particular relevance for pharmacies, where colleagues must manage the pressures of a busy retail environment alongside their frontline healthcare responsibilities.

Targeted theft of prescription and over-the-counter medicines, repeat offending and abuse directed at staff all underline the need for systems designed around the sector’s specific circumstances.

Nick Fisher, CEO of Facewatch, said: “Pharmacies need more than an off-the-shelf security product. They need a system that can help prevent incidents, support staff when something happens and turn the information collected into usable evidence.

“PharmacyProtect brings those elements together within one framework. The Pharmacy Show gives operators the opportunity to see the technology working and talk to us about how it can best meet the needs of their teams.”

Facewatch operates as the Data Controller under UK GDPR, taking responsibility for the processing and governance of biometric data rather than placing that burden on pharmacy operators.

PharmacyProtect will be demonstrated live at The Pharmacy Show at Birmingham’s NEC on 11 and 12 October at Stand B86. Information about how the technology works can be found at: www.facewatch.co.uk