West Midlands Police first force to live-stream body-worn camera footage
West Midlands Police this week became the first force in the country to switch on live-streaming on its body-worn cameras.
The force says the real-time footage will give officers greater protection and extra support.
The new upgraded cameras have already been tested in a variety of scenarios, including football matches, protests, and during pursuits with traffic officers, with West Midlands Police receiving “really positive feedback”.
The live-streaming technology, which allow officers to remotely view another officer’s camera in real-time, will only be activated for “valid operational reasons”, and there are strict rules over its use.
“Officers have told us the new live-streaming function is helping them at incidents,” said West Midlands Police. “They are able to get quicker instruction from supervision and commanding officers are able to deploy more resources faster if they can see a situation warrants it.”
Chief Superintendent Ian Green said the latest technology has many advantages, not least in increasing officer safety.
“It gives us a real-time view of what officers are facing so we can deploy assistance where needed, or advise officers at scenes on preserving evidence or dealing with someone in mental health crisis,” he said.
“We are able to map every officer with a camera and see which ones are recording, but there are strict rules that we will adhere to when choosing to live-stream. The system is completely auditable and will be monitored for any unauthorised use.”
Chief Supt Green added: “We’ve been consulting with our communities and partners so they are fully aware of us now having the ability to live-stream in public areas.
“We have carried out extensive consultation and over 90 per cent of people told us they strongly agreed with us being able to use this new function.”
The force says the new cameras will be used by public-facing officers, but will not be seen as a replacement for attending scenes, and at this stage it will “not be used for any independent scrutiny around use of force or stop and search”.
West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster, who authorised the purchase of the new cameras, said: “This is a great example of where state of the art technology is going to help keep members of the public and police officers safe.
“These cameras will ensure the force responds to the public’s needs effectively and efficiently. It will reassure people that offenders are held to account and that there is appropriate oversight and scrutiny of the actions of police officers.”