Forces urged to share BWV footage

20 August 2020

Calls for forces to release police body-worn video (BWV) footage to help protect officers from trial by media have been welcomed by the chair of Humberside Police Federation.

Pete Musgrave says officers are being unfairly criticised when members of the public share footage of incidents involving the police on social media which is then picked up by the mainstream media.

“Time and time again, these clips, which often only show a brief part of the full incident, are being posted on social media platforms before being seized upon by the media,” says Pete.

“These clips don’t give an accurate reflection of the officers’ actions and give no context to the outsider looking in. If forces were to share officers’ BWV footage I think people would get a better picture not just of these incidents but also some of the realities of the challenges officers face when policing our communities.

“Of course, it will not always be possible for forces to release the footage due to a whole number of reasons including legal and personal concerns but, where possible, I think we should do so.”

John Apter, the national Federation chair, has requested a meeting with Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and Mike Cunningham, chief executive officer at the College of Policing, to discuss his concerns about the clips that are now regularly appearing on social media and in the media.

“These snippets rarely show the full facts,” says John, “They are purposefully selective in what they show and can be incredibly damaging for public confidence in policing, as inevitably some people will believe the one-sided story often presented.

“At a time when officers are doing their absolute best in difficult and trying circumstances, this unfounded and unfair criticism often leads to trial by media and is totally unacceptable. They are simply damned if they do and damned if they don’t.”

The national chair adds: “In these volatile cases where short clips are used against policing and police officers across all media, resulting in complaints against our members, we want Professional Standard Departments to expedite these investigations. In the event of the officer or officers being exonerated and, once the investigation has concluded in its entirety, we would urge forces to publicly release the BWV footage to redress the balance. I believe there is an urgent need for this to happen.

“I fully accept that it might not always be possible to release the BWV footage but doing nothing is not an option. We must take the necessary action to protect police officers from unfair vilification, as well as ensuring that public confidence in policing is not undermined.”

John says BWV is one of the biggest advances in policing in the last decade, allowing evidence to be collected but also capturing the full context of police interactions and showing the realities of policing.

Research led by the University of Cambridge’s Institution of Criminology shows BWV is associated with a 93 per cent reduction in complaints against police officers. The cameras are also a useful deterrent for those who may be considering assaulting an officer, as their actions will be caught on camera.