Operational partnerships - Body worn video policy (W7000)

1.0 Summary of Changes

1.1. The existing Essex policy, A0900, & Kent Policy 047 have been reviewed in May 2024 - as a result of both forces using the same Axon BWV cameras and DAMS, which is a joint contract, this has now become a joint policy for Essex Police and Kent Police, however individual force numbering will still be used to ensure the policy is easy to find on the individual Force libraries, as well as individual force SOPs to outline any bespoke Kent or Essex BWV processes.

2.0 What this Policy is About

2.1. The purpose of this policy is to provide the procedures and protocols required for the application, deployment and overt use of body-worn video (BWV) cameras by all police officers and all authorised users issued with or using a BWV camera, for the purpose of gathering evidence or intelligence. BWV is not intended for covert use, refer to force policy for covert evidence capture tactics. This policy applies to both uniform and plain clothes officers, there are no exemptions.

Compliance with this policy and any linked SOPs is mandatory.

3.0 Statement of Policy

3.1. The use of BWV is intended for use by all staff who have been issued a BWV device or have access to a pool of BWV cameras, in order to:

• Bring more offenders to justice by production of evidence;
• Reduce repeat offending;
• Moderation of offender behaviour;
• Reduce complaints;
• To promote transparency and compliance with local and national policy and process across both Essex Police and Kent Police.

These are the key outlined benefits but not exhaustive.

3.2. Recording will be started when it may provide evidential value or transparency in any encounter, provided it is lawful and appropriate in the circumstances.

3.3. Where police officers and other users are equipped with body-worn cameras, they should use it to record when required for a policing purpose, or any other situation the user deems worthy.

3.4. A policing purpose is defined by the College of Policing as including (but not limited to) the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension and prosecution of offenders, the protecting of life and property and to preserve order.

3.5. This covers a variety of policing scenarios and will lead to greater transparency in policing’s actions.

3.6. Users should activate their cameras prior to arriving at an incident. This allows for the camera to capture the gathering of any information and provides context around decisions made. Users should be encouraged to verbalise any information being gathered or passed to them, such as information passed via personal radios, to further increase context and transparency. If a spontaneous incident occurs, users should activate their cameras as soon as practicable, with the pre-record function capturing the lead-up to the camera being activated.

3.7. The following encounters are required to be recorded:

• When exercising any police power;
• Use of force situations (where preplanned or likely to occur);
• All Stop and search/accounts.
• Making an arrest;
• When attending domestic incidents;
• The escort of any detainee in police custody or police vehicle;
• Any other situation that an officer or staff member may feel is of evidential value

3.8. When unable to record during any of these encounters, or if not deemed appropriate the rationale must be documented in pocket notebook or other record of the incident.

3.9. BWV must not be used for:

• The recording of phone conversations without the subject of the phone call first being informed. Under no circumstances can BWV be used to covertly film or record someone.
• BWV is not to be used for recording outcome 16 or no further action, closures of investigations or for the recording of internal meetings/briefings with staff and officers.
• When attending a non-recent incident of RASSO incident (older than 7 days) where there is unlikely to be any evidential benefit of using BWV, then BWV should not be used. Due to the limited evidence gathering opportunities there is very little benefit of recording this initial interaction. However, if there is a policing purpose for which the user feels recording is necessary and justified or it is required for the protection of both parties (i.e if victim requests) then the reasons for recording should be announced at the start of the recording. If a user has attended a report of another incident and a disclosure of RASSO occurs then continue to record as normal.

3.10. BWV users must also be mindful of displaying documents or screens of other devices that contain sensitive information and personal data to try to minimise the capture of that data by the BWV camera, as this increases the risk of a data breach when the information rights and public disclosure teams in both forces are responding to subject access requests.

3.11. BWV should also be considered:

• If the circumstances could result in a complaint;
• When seizing items;
• Where damage to property may be disputed;
  • Initial scene capture;
  • DA attendance.

3.12. BWV Users should alongside the visual recording, verbalise and document what they see, hear or smell. This can add greater context to the viewer of what the user is experiencing that may not be captured on camera or audio.

3.13. This is specifically referenced within the IOPC Stop and Search Learning Report which states;
Recommendation 13: Chief Officers should take steps to ensure that officers are using their body-worn video to capture all relevant information in the time leading up to the person being detained for a search, the conduct of the search itself and the subsequent conclusion of the encounter”.

3.14. Supervisors will review BWV on a regular basis and as they feel appropriate or necessary as part of their supervisory role. Where continued non-use of BWV without justification is identified or non-management of their DAMS account/digital assets, it will be addressed as a developmental issue and appropriate supervisory action taken.

3.15. BWV footage can also be shared with members of the public who have been satisfactorily vetted and have the appropriate clearances, such a local IAG members.

3.16. Any viewing of such assets will take place in a supervised police environment and no further sharing of such assets is to take place. Under no circumstances will MS Teams or any other media sharing platform be used to share or display assets outside of the owning force.

3.17. All footage selected will be suitably risk assessed by the LPA (Essex) /Division (Kent) Stop & Search Lead before any public viewing.

3.18. The principles outlined by the College of Policing & NPCC BWV Guidance:

• Principle 1 - The use of body-worn video, by the police, is lawful;
• Principle 2 - Data will be processed and managed in line with Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information, APP on Information Management and the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) as it relates to the relevant parts of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR),
• Principle 3 - The majority use of body-worn video will be overt;
• Principle 4 - The operational use of body-worn video must be proportionate, legitimate and related to a meaningful operational encounter
• Principle 5 – Forces will utilise body-worn video to engage with their communities to promote transparency and accountability.

3.19. Retention

3.19.1. Use Of DAMS/Evidence. Com for Retention and Disposal in accordance with DAMS Policy W6000 and SOP W6004 – All uploaded footage must be categorised and the meta data fields completed. The guidance can be found on the DAMS SharePoint page. 

3.20 Use of BWV in Command Roles

3.20.1. Body-worn cameras should also be used by senior officers or officers in command roles that are required to document and keep records of their decision making. One of the recommendations that has come from the Manchester Arena Inquiry is for those who take up a command position in the event of a Major Incident (this includes police, fire, and ambulance) are issued with a means to record what they say, hear and see.

3.20.2. Although this doesn’t mention body-worn video specifically, the cameras fulfil this role, and a number of forces are ensuring that officers within a command role have access to body-worn cameras.

3.20.3. This is particularly important when either senior officers or any officer, is deployed out of force on mutual aid events.

3.21. Mutual aid

3.21.1. It is imperative that before being deployed on mutual aid the requesting force advises whether they have compatible downloading provisions for the responding force BWV system. Consultation must take place between both home and host force prior to deployment.

3.21.2. Officers deployed on mutual aid will be supplied with appropriate charging cables/docks by the home force unless the host force also uses compatible Axon BWV equipment and can accommodate extra usage/docking.

4.0 Implications of the Policy

4.1 Finance / Staffing / Training / Other

4.1.1 Finance - the capital cost has been met by the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (Essex) and Office of the Police Crime Commissioner (Kent) and a small number from the Home Office. On-going revenue secured.

4.1.2 Staffing - most uniformed roles, Crime Investigation, PPU, Special Constables and PCSOs.

4.2 Risk Assessment(s)

4.2.1 Non-compliance with this policy poses a medium potential risk.

4.3 Equality Impact Assessment

4.3.1. EIA completed.

5.0 Consultation

5.1 The following have been consulted during the formulation of this document:

• Essex Unison
• Essex Police Federation
• Essex Positive Action Leads
• Essex Diversity and Inclusion Manager
• Essex Health & Safety
• Essex Head of Operational Change
• Essex PSD D/Superintendent
• Essex Risk
• Essex Policy
• Essex Superintendents Association
• Essex Strategic Force Crime & Incident Registrar
• Essex DPO/Temp Head of Info Management
• Essex Support Network Chairs and Vice Chairs
• Essex Strategic Criminal Justice
• Essex LPA Chief Inspectors
• Essex Digital Forensics
• Learning and Development
• Essex Geographic Services
• Essex SIAG Policy Owners
• Kent BWV Leads
• Essex BWV lead
• Information Security
• Kent Estates
• Human Resources
• Kent Health and Safety
• Kent Legal
• Kent Professional Standards Department
• Kent Freedom of Information
• Kent Data Protection
• Kent Risk
• Kent Diversity and Inclusion Academy
• Kent Divisional Commanders
• Kent Supts Association
• Kent Unison
• Kent Federation

6.0 Monitoring and Review

6.1 This policy will be reviewed by, or on behalf of, the owner every two years to ensure it remains accurate. It is next due for review in May 2026.

7.0 Data Security

7.1 Essex Police and Kent Police have measures in place to protect the security of data in accordance with our Information Management Policy - W 1000 Policy – Information Management.

8.0 Retention & Disposal of Records

8.1 Essex Police and Kent Police will hold data in accordance with our Records Review, Retention & Disposal Policy – W 1012 Procedure/SOP - Records Review, Retention and Disposal.

8.2 We will only hold data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which we collected.