WEST LANCASHIRE ORMSKIRK & WEST LANCASHIRE
30 2020 30 December December 2020
Vol 27• Issue 53
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LONG LENS OF THE LAW! Lancashire Police believed to be first to use new cutting-edge body-worn cameras
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LANCASHIRE Police are believed to be the first force to use new “cutting-edge” bodyworn cameras in their fight against crime. Police forces rely on body-worn cameras to improve the safety and accountability of their frontline teams, capture evidence and maintain transparency. In the first three months of lockdown, UK police forces saw a 21 percent increase in assaults on their officers, according to a study published by the Press Association, which put greater demands on frontline staff and public safety organisations. To effectively respond to these challenges, Lancashire Constabulary has deployed technology from Motorola Solutions. The new body-worn cameras provide an automatic 30 second video pre-recording feature, so that officers will not miss the beginning of an incident. Dave Hannan, Chief Inspector at Lancashire Constabulary, said: “This investment is about
Report by Henry James giving our officers the best tools we can for the job, making it quicker and more efficient and improving the quality of evidence, so we can provide a great service to citizens. “The roll out of this technology will be a vital tool in bringing offenders to justice, especially those who take part in crime that is naturally more difficult to prosecute such as domestic abuse and public order offences.” Before using the integrated body-worn camera solution, Lancashire Constabulary recorded different clips throughout their shift and tagged them back at the station when their shift ended - a “time consuming and highly manual procedure that could lead to delays or inaccuracies”. Lancashire Constabulary frontline teams
The new body-worn cameras which police are using
can now view lists of recordings stored on the camera. The new technology aims to help Lancashire’s police officers to “significantly speed up” decision-making, capture evidence and maintain accountability and transparency both within and between departments and communities. More than 1,200 officers have been trained to use the cameras so far and there are plans for them to be used by more officers. The new body cameras are said to be of much better quality than those used before. Police in Lancashire have been using body worn technology since 2014, and it has become an important element of police work in the county.
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