diff --git a/wyzely_detect/__main__.py b/wyzely_detect/__main__.py
index 3c46edd..72e4ea0 100644
--- a/wyzely_detect/__main__.py
+++ b/wyzely_detect/__main__.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ def main():
     global args
     # RUN_BY_COMPOSE = os.getenv("RUN_BY_COMPOSE") # Replace this with code to check for gpu
 
-
     args = argparser.parse_args()
 
     # Check if a CUDA GPU is available. If it is, set it via torch. If not, set it to cpu
@@ -83,7 +82,10 @@ def main():
             # May be better to check every iteration, but this also works
             if path_to_faces_exists:
                 if face_details := utils.recognize_face(
-                    path_to_directory=path_to_faces, run_frame=run_frame, min_confidence=args.face_confidence_threshold
+                    path_to_directory=path_to_faces,
+                    run_frame=run_frame,
+                    min_confidence=args.face_confidence_threshold,
+                    no_remove_representations=args.no_remove_representations,
                 ):
                     plot_boxes.append(face_details)
                     objects_and_peoples = notify.thing_detected(
diff --git a/wyzely_detect/utils/cli_args.py b/wyzely_detect/utils/cli_args.py
index 5c064c6..b343057 100644
--- a/wyzely_detect/utils/cli_args.py
+++ b/wyzely_detect/utils/cli_args.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 argparser = None
 
+
 def set_argparse():
     global argparser
 
@@ -20,10 +21,9 @@ def set_argparse():
         epilog=":)",
     )
 
-
     # One important thing to consider is that most function parameters are optional and have a default value
     # However, with argparse, those are never used since a argparse always passes something, even if it's None
-    
+
     argparser.add_argument(
         "--run-scale",
         # Set it to the env RUN_SCALE if it isn't blank, otherwise set it to 0.25
@@ -80,6 +80,15 @@ def set_argparse():
         type=str,
         help="The directory to store the faces. Can either contain images or subdirectories with images, the latter being the preferred method",  # noqa: E501
     )
+    argparser.add_argument(
+        "--no-remove-representations",
+        default=os.environ["NO_REMOVE_REPRESENTATIONS"]
+        if "NO_REMOVE_REPRESENTATIONS" in os.environ
+        and os.environ["NO_REMOVE_REPRESENTATIONS"] != ""
+        else False,
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Don't remove representations_<model>.pkl at the start of the program. Greatly improves startup time, but doesn't take into account changes to the faces directory since it was created",  # noqa: E501
+    )
     argparser.add_argument(
         "--detect-object",
         nargs="*",
@@ -146,5 +155,6 @@ def set_argparse():
     )
     # return argparser
 
+
 # This will run when this file is imported
-set_argparse()
\ No newline at end of file
+set_argparse()
diff --git a/wyzely_detect/utils/utils.py b/wyzely_detect/utils/utils.py
index 17592e3..d7ffddf 100644
--- a/wyzely_detect/utils/utils.py
+++ b/wyzely_detect/utils/utils.py
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ def recognize_face(
     # opencv image
     run_frame: np.ndarray = None,
     min_confidence: float = 0.3,
+    no_remove_representations: bool = False,
 ) -> np.ndarray:
     """
     Accepts a path to a directory of images of faces to be used as a refference
@@ -95,13 +96,16 @@ def recognize_face(
     global first_face_try
 
     # If it's the first time the function is being run, remove representations_arcface.pkl, if it exists
-    if first_face_try:
+    if first_face_try and not no_remove_representations:
         try:
             path_to_directory.joinpath("representations_arcface.pkl").unlink()
             print("Removing representations_arcface.pkl")
         except FileNotFoundError:
             print("representations_arcface.pkl does not exist")
         first_face_try = False
+    elif first_face_try and no_remove_representations:
+        print("Not attempting to remove representations_arcface.pkl")
+        first_face_try = False
 
     # face_dataframes is a vanilla list of dataframes
     # It seems face_dataframes is empty if the face database (directory) doesn't exist. Seems to work if it's empty though