Time To Release Body Cam Footage

BODY-WORN video footage should be released when appropriate to “put out the full context” of an incident when the public post short clips of police interactions on social media.

That is the view of South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent, who said he does not think the public will stop posting such videos.

He explained: “Unfortunately we’re never going to stop this at the source, because this is society now. Everybody films everything. All we’ve asked for is the force’s ability and willingness to put out the full, wider context as and when they can, to provide that context.

“All the time we see a five-second video where it doesn’t show the full 25, 30 seconds of an incident. The force should, quite rightly, retain editorial rights and put footage out when it’s proportionate to do so and not put them out when it’s not appropriate to do so for whatever reason.

“But forces across the country need to be more proactive in putting out the wider context to the media. That can pour a lot of fire on these five-second clips.”

Steve said he thought body-worn video was “the best thing ever to land” as it showed events from police officers’ perspectives.

The Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), Chief Constable Martin Hewitt, has described the clips as a “hideous phenomenon”.

He said: “There’s a real opportunity to get some guidance out quickly here… to make sure everyone understands the parameters. It’s also about the mindset that we are going to do everything that we can do positively to counter some of the nonsense that we see.”