- Conference
- 2021 Police and Justice Conference
- Date
- 14 June 2021
- Decision
- Carried
The September 2020 Officer and Staff Safety Review and National Police Safety Survey undertaken by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing (CoP) was a comprehensive project to look at the risks associated with working in the police service and to crucially make bold recommendations to protect both those working in the service and the general public.
One result of the Officer and Staff Safety Review and National Police Safety Survey was a recommendation that Chief Constables consider giving Body Worn Video (BWV) to all staff, including Police Staff in front line roles.
Despite the recommendation, the rollout of BWV to police staff has been sporadic at best in many forces. While most of our police officer colleagues have personal issue BWV, many police staff have to search or beg for shared BWV units that are often not charged, broken or unavailable.
As a proactive policing tool, BWV is recognised to be a proven way to collect vital evidence that leads to convictions. BWV is also recognised for its ability to de-escalate situations as members of the public recognise it and often behave better knowing that they’re being filmed and it affords protection from malicious accusations from members of the public. It’s recognised that accusations of improper conduct against officers and staff can cause unnecessary harm and distress and they can also lead to these staff being accused of all sorts of malicious actions which in turn could see them in a misconduct hearing facing dismissal, placed on the barred and advisory list and in some cases court; BWV protects staff on the receiving end of those unfounded accusations.
The health, safety and wellbeing of our members is paramount and with expanded roles and greater demands resting on their shoulders, BWV is the right tool to support and protect our members.
Conference calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1)Work with branches to identify the police staff roles in each force that interact directly with members of the public and would benefit from personal issue BWV;
2)Work with branches to identify how widespread the personal issue of BWV is and where the gaps are;
3)Publish the findings and shortfalls of 1 and 2 above and endeavour to engage with the NPCC, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and CoP to promote the importance of issuing this equipment to police staff in appropriate roles.