Use of body cameras by front-line police rises
DYFED-POWYS Police has become the latest force to adopt the use of body cameras on its front-line officers.
The move follows successful rollouts of the technology by Gwent Police and North Wales Police.
From this week 800 police officers and police community support officers in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys will be equipped with Body Worn Video (BWV) cameras, which are attached to the chest of a police uniform.
Since being introduced in other parts of Wales the body cameras have been credited with a huge drop in complaints made against front-line officers.
Footage captured by the cameras has also been used to provide audio and video evidence in court cases.
Chief Constable Mark Collins said: “Training for officers will begin at the end of March, and soon after, members of the public will start spotting them on officers and PCSOs.
“The introduction of these cameras is in line with the national policing approach, and is a significant move forward for policing in our area.
“They will provide the public with more reassurance, and will help officers to document valuable evidence – leading to swifter justice for victims.
“Technology can help improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of policing. The roll-out of BWV follows a three-month trial at the end of 2015, which saw the footage captured by officers secure a number of convictions in court. It makes sense to us as a force to introduce BWV as we work towards digitalisation of the force.
“A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to introduce these cameras and I’m pleased that they are now being rolled out.”
Gwent Police and North Wales Police have been using body cameras for more than 12 months, leaving South Wales Police as the only force in Wales without a full cohort of staff with access to them.
Research by Cambridge University last year showed the use of body cameras decreased the amount of complaints against police officers by 93% over a twelve month period.
Dr Barak Ariel, who led the research, said: “I cannot think of any [other] single intervention in the history of policing that dramatically changed the way that officers behave, the way that suspects behave, and the way they interact with each other.
“Once [the public] are aware they are being recorded, once they know that everything they do is caught on tape, they will undoubtedly change their behaviour because they don’t want to get into trouble.”
A BMV camera does not record a constant stream, but spends most of its time in standby mode recording a 30-second loop which automatically overwrites itself.
When a police officer wants to film using the camera they must press a record button and announce when they begin and end filming.
Footage from a body camera is subject to strict legal guidelines, which means that any member of the public who wishes to view footage taken of them can request it within 31 days through a freedom of information request.
There are exceptions to this, such as if footage is being used in an investigation, but video not being used as police evidence is automatically deleted within 31 days.