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Smile, yobbo, you're on police cap camera
Police officers throughout England and Wales are to be issued with miniature head cameras to help gather evidence of crimes after a successful trial of the technology.
Police in Plymouth have been using 50 head cameras since October when they began a six-month pilot of the technology. In the first 10 weeks alone Devon and Cornwall police recorded a fall of 8% in all violent crime and an 18% reduction in wounding within the pilot areas.
All 43 forces in England and Wales are now to be issued with a Home Office-backed “manual of guidance” advising officers on the best way to deploy the cameras and to use the evidence to secure a conviction.
“The results of the trial have been very positive,” said a spokesman for Devon and Cornwall police, which ran the project for the Home Office.
The cameras can produce high-quality digital video or stills and record sound. They are attached to an elastic headband worn under police helmets or caps. The lens is level with the eyes and films in whichever direction the officer’s head is turned.
A wire links the camera, which is the size of a marker pen, to a 4in screen on the belt on which footage can be played. The device can record 400 hours of footage but must be recharged every 12 hours.
The film can be downloaded onto a computer or onto a DVD for use in court. The cameras cost £1,700 each and have proved particularly effective in capturing late-night yobbish behaviour in urban centres. Last month police in Somerset used the head cameras while patrolling the Glastonbury festival.
They have also been deployed on an ad hoc basis by forces including Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Northumbria and West Midlands but, with the conclusion of the trial, are now likely to become standard issue for selected officers within forces nationwide.
Although use of the cameras will be seen by some as a further extension of the “Big Brother” CCTV, supporters argue that it not only acts as a potential deterrent to troublemakers but also provides an objective and “fair” account of an incident.
In May traffic “super-wardens” in Salford, Greater Manchester, became the first in Britain to issue tickets with miniature cameras strapped to their heads. The aim was to help resolve disputes over tickets and to provide evidence against motorists who assaulted or abused staff.
The wardens also have powers to issue £80 on-the-spot fines for antisocial behaviour such as littering, flyposting and allowing dogs to foul the pavement.