Met officer uses photographic memory to snare dangerous criminals
Meet Britain’s ‘super sleuth’: Met Police officer, 37, has used his photographic memory to snare more than 100 criminals including drug dealers and gunmen so far this year
- PC Arron Lewars has snared 112 criminals this year using photographic memory
- Met Police officer spotted offender wearing sunglasses at Notting Hill Carnival
- He also caught burglar wearing a facemask by recognising his eyes
Meet Britain’s ‘super sleuth’ – a police officer who has caught more than 100 burglars, drug dealers, gunmen and mobsters this year so far by using his photographic memory to recall the faces of dangerous criminals roaming the streets of London.
PC Arron Lewars, 37, has snared nearly 200 offenders in the past two years through his astonishing ability to remember how they look – often just by a glimpse of their eyes or jawline.
In one instance, the ‘super-recogniser’ spotted a 30-year-old offender wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap at the Notting Hill Carnival among 2million faces being monitored from a control room in Lambeth.
Speaking at last night’s Metropolitan Police excellence awards, he told the Evening Standard: ‘All I could see was his jawline on the screen. I’d spent 18 months looking for him. He’s dancing and having a lovely time, but you can’t even see his full face.
‘My colleagues were questioning me, ”Are you sure?” before arresting him. I said, ”100 per cent sure”.
More recently, PC Lewars’s photographic memory helped detectives snare a serial burglar in the street – by recognising his eyes above the Covid facemask and hood he was wearing.
PC Arron Lewars, 37, has snared nearly 200 offenders in the past two years through his astonishing ability to remember how they look – often just by a glimpse of their eyes or jawline
The officer, who has spent 13 years working for an anti-violence unit covering Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham, studies mugshots, CCTV from raids and body-worn video, looking at how suspects walk, dress and for any scars and tattoos before going out on patrol.
He added: ‘Our team have a very good success rate for identifying people. Last year I identified 80. Since January, I’m at 112 – so I’m getting better.’
At last night’s awards, Sergeant Michael McGuirk and PC Nikki Smith, both 30, were honoured for rescuing a Barnet man from a burning building in 2020.
PC Darren Shan won Police Officer of the Year for helping young people at Dwaynamics, a Brixton boxing gym set up by Pastor Lorraine Jones whose son Dwayne was stabbed to death in 2014, while PC Sobia Seher won a special recognition award for raising awareness of faith diversity.
And Detective Chief Superintendent Tara McGovern’s team behind Signa, an internal project tackling misogyny set up after Sarah Everard’s murder, won The Building a Better Met award.
Speaking after receiving the award, PC Smith, said: ‘The fire was one of those times where you go into fight or flight mode and luckily we went into fight mode. There is no other job like policing.’
Police Sergeant Michael McGuirk and PC Nikki Smith accepting their award from Scotland Yard’s new Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley
Sergeant McGuirk, said: ‘I feel really proud and surprised to win this award when considering the other nominations. I didn’t join the police to win a bravery award but I did join to save lives. That’s the job.’
Scotland Yard’s new Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley presented his Commissioner’s Award to two officers who were stabbed during an incident in Leicester Square last month, whose names are not being released at this time.
Speaking at the Excellence Awards, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, said: ‘These awards celebrate the best of the Met and are one way we recognise the incredible contributions individuals and teams made protecting and serving the people of London.
‘Against this success, in stark contrast, there are some very real challenges. This week is a tough one for the Met. There is no denying that and there will be some difficult challenges as we fix the things we need to.
‘But I remain optimistic for one reason. I know we will succeed in making the necessary changes, because of you and those like you, the fantastic, dedicated, honest and often heroic officers and staff who make up the vast majority of our people. The very best of those we heard about today.
‘Every finalist embodies the best of us and the values we hold dear – they are an inspiration to the rest of us. I am proud of you – you should be proud too.’
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