SOUTH Yorkshire Police is to release body-worn camera footage to help balance out the portrayal of police actions in the media<\/p>\n
The force will look at incidents on a case-by-case basis to protect officers and ensure the full picture of arrests and incidents is presented to the outside world.<\/p>\n
The move comes after Home Secretary Priti Patel urged forces to release more footage to stop \u2018armchair critics\u2019 blasting officers for their actions on the frontline without seeing the incidents in context.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said: \u201cHow many incidents have we seen across the country where things have clearly been mispresented when a full view of the footage and\/or seeing it from a different perspective would show it in a totally different light?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s vital for public confidence that they can see what police officers are doing in these scenarios and not have to draw conclusions from a false narrative.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe force is not going to say, \u2018we\u2019ll release everything\u2019, but they\u2019ll do it on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m reassured by their stance. They see the value, and if there\u2019s a high profile incident in South Yorkshire, they would definitely look at releasing footage to try and put our side of things across.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are reluctant to say they\u2019ll release everything all the time, as they want to retain the editorial rights, which I would expect anybody to want. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a problem with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve is also delighted to see backing for the plan from the highest level in Government.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe warmly welcome the Home Secretary coming out and saying what she did, it was brilliant, and I was pleasantly surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n