Universal support for BWV cameras

Police officers are almost 100 per cent in favour of wearing body-worn video (BWV) cameras, believing they offer tangible benefits both to users and to the public.

A recent survey of emergency services professionals in the police and paramedic services found that 92 per cent of police officers and 72 per cent of paramedics supported the use of BWV. More than half (56 per cent) of police officers and a quarter (25 per cent) of paramedics said they had already had personal experience in using a BWV camera.

Sergeant Stuart Murrell, Territorial Policing lead at the Metropolitan Police Service, said: “The advancement of technology has allowed BWV to become a realistic proposition for use within the police and other emergency services. BWV greatly assists across a broad spectrum from conviction through to complaint reduction and incident management. BWV is a cost-effective, independent witness providing a speedier judicial process and peace of mind for the wearer.”

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of police officers agreed that BWV cameras made them feel safer while doing their job and at the same time thought they gave the public greater confidence in the police (72 per cent).

Although six in ten (61 per cent) police officers thought BWV would speed up the justice process, they were less convinced that wearing cameras would diffuse potentially violent situations – 44 per cent said they would, but 26 per cent said they would not.

Police officers cited the independent evidence gathering provided by video as a key benefit and the potential for resolving “his word against mine” situations. They also liked the ability to record the arrest of violent offenders and disorder.

Paramedics saw benefits in BWV for recording violent patients, or patients who refused treatment, as well as saying they offered a form of protection to paramedics working on their own. They also saw the potential to relay information from the field to doctors, helping to speed up diagnosis and potentially life-saving treatment.

Police officers were not unduly concerned about the potential invasion of privacy from the cameras – 80 per cent did not believe they were an invasion of their privacy at work, while 81 per cent did not think they were an invasion of the public’s privacy either.

Two-thirds of police officers did not believe there was potential for cameras to be misused, although a third thought they could be. However, more than half (53 per cent) of paramedics were concerned about the potential misuse of cameras. Seventy per cent of police officers questioned also did not believe wearing a camera would hinder them in their work in any way.

The survey was conducted on behalf of the Emergency Services Show that was held in Birmingham last week.

Kent trial

Kent Police is the latest force to trial BWV cameras. They will initially be used by the local district policing teams in Maidstone, Medway and Thanet prior as part of a “live test” phase prior to a wider rollout across the force towards the end of this year and into 2015.

The high-definition cameras are expected to play a key role in domestic abuse offences and night-time economy incidents.

It is expected that around 430 officers will be using the cameras by October 15. The £328,000 cost is being met by a Home Office grant and £130,000 from the Kent police and crime commissioner Ann Barnes.

Kent Police Deputy Chief Constable Paul Brandon said: “BWV is a technological innovation which has been shown to have some very clear and tangible benefits to police forces. It has the capability to capture real-time evidence, offering the potential to move the justice process forward with reduced stress for victims of crime.

“Forces that use BWV already have seen an increase in early guilty pleas as defendants are shown irrefutable evidence and they have seen a reduction in offending behaviour resulting in better safety for members of the public and officers.

“We owe it to the victims of crime to use all lawful investigative techniques available to us