Body-worn Video Should Be Released To Provide Full Story

15 September 2021

Forces should be confident about releasing officers’ body-worn video, the Chair of Kent Police Federation has said.

Speaking at the Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales’ annual conference, Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said that in principle she wanted body-worn footage to be released to the public and media, so that “misunderstandings or erroneous judgements about how my officers have done their work [are] dispelled as soon as possible”.

Chair of Kent Police Federation Neil Mennie agreed, saying it would provide transparency and that there needed to be a “right of reply” when misleading video footage appeared on social media and mainstream media channels.

Neil said: “We have to get used to the fact that everyone films everyone now, but officers’ body-worn video has a number of benefits, including providing transparency and a narrative to incidents and interactions with the public. It’s not going to answer all the questions and capture all the nuances, but it helps.

“The new Bond movie will have many of us popping down to the local cinema and enjoying the action. What I won’t do is pop in and watch 10 minutes halfway through the film, before leaving and trying to apply my own theories as to what happened in the beginning and will happen at the end.

“In the same way, footage of officers has often been circulated in an edited form, in order to start a conversation to suit the complainant’s version of events.

“It’s only fair that, where appropriate, the public should get to see the officer’s body-worn video, and forces should be confident about releasing it.

“A perfectly good use of body-worn video is to prevent complaints, however it can’t be fair that where unfounded allegations and complaints are made against colleagues we get to see a sample of the complainant’s interaction circulating on social media and mainstream media, without the right of reply. Everyone will have an opinion, but at least provide the full story.”

When Dame Cressida was questioned at the conference about whether she supported officers releasing body-worn video, she replied: “In principle I absolutely do, and I think for example during Extinction Rebellion protests, the Met were proactive about communications strategy, using imagery as much as words and not relying on traditional media to get the message across.

“I also in principle want misunderstandings or erroneous judgements about how my officers have done their work to be dispelled as soon as possible. I don’t have any hesitation.

"We are the police. We have to stick to the facts. We have to respect investigation and due process. And we must not give biased or clipped footage that tells only part of the story – as often the story is very long and complex. We need to look at the whole.”

But she said it was important that the footage must be “in good taste”, adding: “In America and other places you see law enforcement putting out images that are unacceptable and would offend both the public and staff.”

Dame Cressida criticised those in the media who jumped to conclusions about officers, when watching video clips out of context.

“Erroneous criticism of officers increases tension and reduces legitimacy. Rushing to judgement is dangerous,” she said.