Safer Neighbourhood Panels, set up by Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner to scrutinise and shape policing at the most local level, will examine body worn video camera footage from police officers.
Local people, councillors and a magistrate sit on the panels which have been established across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to hold each area’s Local Policing Commander to account and look at wider criminal justice and community safety issues.
Now Safer Neighbourhood Panel members in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire Moorlands and Stoke-on-Trent have received training to examine video recorded on police body cameras from stop and searches. The training follows a report by the overarching, county-wide independent Ethics, Transparency and Audit Panel (ETAP) – also established by PCC Matthew Ellis – which recommends mandatory use of body worn video for every stop and search incident in Staffordshire.
The report can be read at www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/etap-reports/
All frontline police officers, PCSOs and Special Constables were provided with body cams in an initiative funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner two years ago. Staffordshire was the first force in the country to equip all frontline officers with the technology with 550 cameras now in use.
Mr Ellis said: “The use of body cams is invaluable. They remove any doubt as to what happened in a situation which means the facts are clear. They can make previously complex complaints against police officers easier to investigate and they reinforce openness and transparency in policing which I believe is so important.
“Stop and search is an important power but can seriously harm public confidence in the police when used inappropriately or without the proper rigour which is why ETAP’s recommendation that every stop and search is recorded on body cam is crucial.
“Safer Neighbourhood Panels will now examine stop and search footage to provide an even stronger link with the public and a further important layer of transparency and reassurance.”
The ETAP report also recommended that body worn video (BWV) use is mandatory, not discretionary as it has been in the past, for all domestic abuse incidents and incidents where police use, or anticipate using, force.
The report says: “All officers wear BWV but they do not all use it in the same way. It is accepted that video does modify behaviour and the ETAP view is that this has a positive effect on the more sensitive of incidents. In particular Stop and Search, Domestic Abuse and deployment of Taser.
“In all of these, there is strong public opinion and occasionally there has been adverse national media coverage, which has led to criticisms of police behaviour. If cases are brought to court, or any complaint against the police is forthcoming, then questions may be asked about why BWV was not used when it could provide evidence. As it is impossible to ‘edit’ recordings, they are often regarded as ‘Independent Witness’ evidence.”
The report concludes: “Our recommendation is that the switching on of BWV should be mandatory for Stop and Search, Domestic Abuse and Use of Force or Anticipated Use of Force. However, there needs to be a caveat which allows the switching off of BWV if continual use aggravates the situation, or the time delay to switch on a BWV device places the officer in a life threatening position or subject to personal injury.”
Mr Ellis added: “The work of ETAP and the new Safer Neighbourhood Panels which I’m establishing across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent is invaluable. They are developing in exactly the way I had hoped, offering constructive challenge, bringing new ideas and carry significant weight on behalf of the public to help me improve policing. This report and the work Safer Neighbourhood Panels will now do in examining complex policing issues, such as stop and search, add rigour and underpin the transparency which is essential in services like policing.”
Chief Inspector Neil Hulme, commander of Stoke-on-Trent Central Local Policing Team and Staffordshire Police’s lead for body worn video, said: “As the force lead for body-worn video I am extremely pleased about the positive impact it has had, both in terms of evidence gathering and the wider benefits within the criminal justice system. The use of BWV provides far greater transparency for staff – particularly around stop and seach – as well as increased public confidence in policing.
“The opportunity to work with ETAP in reviewing the force policy was hugely beneficial. I am now beginning a piece of work with the Safer Neighbourhood Panel for my area to further explore the use of BWV in an operational setting so that we ensure procedures are being followed and all officers act in a proportionate and professional manner.”
For more information on Safer Neighbourhood Panels and ETAP visit www.staffordshire-pcc.gov.uk/volunteer/
