Study shows impact of body worn video
The same study also found that there was a 75% increase in domestic abuse occurrence to crime conversion when the body cameras were rolled out to all officers.
This combination of data – overall crime down and domestic violence occurrence-to-crime conversion up – demonstrates that although there were less criminal occurrences as a whole, a higher percentage of them were converted into crimes, which points to more effective and efficient policing.
This is especially true in domestic abuse incidents. Historically, it was difficult to press charges against somebody when the victim was unable to give testimony against them, whether that was out of fear, loyalty or being unable to remember due to the effects of alcohol. This, coupled with a court hearing after the event when any injuries may have healed and the well turned out criminal appears calm and collected in the docks, creates a void between what actually happened, and what appears to have happened.
However, with the introduction of Reveal body cameras, the independent study found that footage is enough in and of itself to communicate the horrors of the crime to the court; which resulted in a significant rise in charges.
One victim spoke out on the BBC’s Panorama praising the police’s uses of the Reveal body camera: “They could see the emotion of how frightened I was.’ She said ‘If they (police) had left that night and that camera wasn’t on, and it had been a little bit later, they wouldn’t have found me as they did, they would have found a body.
“People don't realise how bad these things are but with that footage they could see how bad it was... A picture does tell a story but actually watching it, they could see I was totally confused...which you don't get from a photograph.”
Body cameras record what happens on the front line. They provide support, reassurance and confidence for the people who work there. More than that, they produce extraordinary results for society as a whole. Here are just a few statistics:
The use of body cameras when responding to a domestic violence incident is a keen illustration of the direct impact upon society.
