Police Scotland's custody photos are often poor quality, hampering facial recognition and potentially solving crimes.

A report by the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner and HMICS highlights that many custody photos taken by Police Scotland between 2019 and 2024 are of poor quality and unsuitable for facial recognition. This could lead to unsolved crimes as suspects may not be identified in future probes. The report recommends improving image quality and developing policies on image search technologies. Police Scotland says they will consider these recommendations.