Police: Cameras

(asked on 25th June 2015) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many police officers in England and Wales they expect to be equipped with body-worn camera technology by the end of 2016.


Answered by
Lord Bates Portrait
Lord Bates
This question was answered on 9th July 2015

PCCs and chief officers make the decisions on what technology is procured and how it is used by officers at a local level. It is not for the Home Office to set targets or expectations. It is right that PCCs and their forces are free to invest in technology that aligns to local priorities and addresses the specific challenges they face. The majority of police forces are either already using Body Worn Video (BWV) on a day-to-day basis, or are in the process of rolling this technology out to their officers. The Home Office does not hold information as to how many officers are equipped with BWV. As part of the 2014/15 Police Innovation Fund (PIF), the Home Office awarded a total of £4m to eight bids relating to the roll-out of BWV. We supported the Police ICT Company to bring these eight bids together, with Nottinghamshire Police developing a BWV procurement framework, which is now available to all forces. Other forces either using, or considering the use of, the framework include: Merseyside, North Wales, Bedfordshire, Hampshire and the MPS. The value of PIF bids for BWV for 2013/14 was £1,567,625. Police forces also procure BWV outside of the Police Innovation Fund as part of their own digitisation programmes.

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