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Adam Bannister is a contributor to IFSEC Global, having been in the role of Editor from 2014 through to November 2019. Adam also had stints as a journalist at cybersecurity publication, The Daily Swig, and as Managing Editor at Dynamis Online Media Group.
The trial of body-worn cameras by several police forces will herald a dramatic drop in complaints against police if a similar trial in California is anything to go by.
Video surveillance manufacturers will certainly watch with interest at the prospect of this nascent surveillance market burgeoning.
Roughly the size of a cigarette packet and manufactured by Taser, cameras have been issued to officers in 10 London boroughs as part of a £815,000 trial. Numerous other forces are already trialling the cameras or planning to follow suit.
Other manufacturers in the embryonic body-worn video market include Digital Ally, Edesix, Pinnacle [pictured], Reveal, Vievu and Wolfcom.
Little research has been done on pilots already undertaken in Britain but during a year-long trial in Rialto, near Los Angeles complaints against the police plummeted by 88% and incidents where officers used force by 60%.
Police Chiefs are also anticipating speedier justice for victims and a jump in prosecutions and convictions.
Former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis has backed the cameras’ introduction, suggesting they would have prevented the Plebgate incident and brought clarity to several court cases, including those relating to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the death of G20 newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson and the killing of Mark Duggan. “In each case there wouldn’t have been any dispute over the facts,” he said.
“It’s an extremely good idea. Everyone will be a winner. I think it should be introduced to every police officer in Britain, with the exception of approved covert or undercover officers.”
Speaking to BBC breakfast Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said the cameras could have helped in the Duggan case.
“I think as we saw in the recent incident – fairly recent incident – regarding Mark Duggan, there was a great dispute about what Mark Duggan was holding at the time he was shot, and this hopefully would have helped to resolve that.”
To demonstrate the technology’s benefits the Met released graphic footage of a domestic violence incident filmed in London earlier this year. Showed the footage of his bloodied and emotional victim the accused admitted the assault and was jailed for five months.
Firearms officers are also testing the cameras in a training environment.
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Body-Worn Cameras Herald New Era of Surveillance – and Police AccountabilityWith the Met Police set to trial body-worn cameras across 10 boroughs this is a market set to grow and potentially transform policing for the better.
Adam Bannister
IFSEC Insider | Security and Fire News and Resources
The drop in complaints was from 8 to 3. Study designers did not draw any conclusion about causation. They were quite specific: BWC are only seen to improve police conduct in cases where officers believe their departments will discipline misconduct 100% of the time.
http://www.globalfocus.ltd.uk.
Much better than the trial units and a bit cheaper!
The drop in complaints was from 8 to 3. Study designers did not draw any conclusion about causation. They were quite specific: BWC are only seen to improve police conduct in cases where officers believe their departments will discipline misconduct 100% of the time.