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| Police should use body cameras for every London stop and search – report | Police should use body cameras for every London stop and search – report |
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| Frontline Metropolitan police officers should be required to wear video cameras during all stop-and-search interactions in London, a report says. | Frontline Metropolitan police officers should be required to wear video cameras during all stop-and-search interactions in London, a report says. |
| Chaired by Doreen Lawrence and Labour’s London mayoral hopeful Tessa Jowell, the report is the result of six months of work with young people from across the capital, drawing on their personal experiences of stop and search and those of their friends and families. | |
| The report, which recognises that stop and search can be an important tool for police officers to fight crime and reassure the public, makes three main recommendations: | The report, which recognises that stop and search can be an important tool for police officers to fight crime and reassure the public, makes three main recommendations: |
| The report, called Stopping Distance: Making Stop and Search Work for Londoners, argues that the Metropolitan police have not published proper guidelines on how and when body cameras are to be used, potentially leaving usage to the discretion of individual police officers. | |
| A 12-month trial of body-worn video cameras across the Met will conclude shortly and a formal evaluation will be completed and published by the College of Policing and the Mayor’s office for policing and crime in September. | |
| Last week the Met commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, announced he would be stepping up the use of targeted stop-and-search operations in high knife-crime areas of London due to a recent rise in stabbings. | Last week the Met commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, announced he would be stepping up the use of targeted stop-and-search operations in high knife-crime areas of London due to a recent rise in stabbings. |
| Hogan-Howe said there had been 1,679 stabbings of people aged under 25 in the 12 months to May, a 23% increase on the previous year. | Hogan-Howe said there had been 1,679 stabbings of people aged under 25 in the 12 months to May, a 23% increase on the previous year. |
| “Body-worn cameras will increase trust between police and communities, but only if they are used properly,” said Jowell, who is running to be Labour’s candidate for London’s 2016 mayoral election. | “Body-worn cameras will increase trust between police and communities, but only if they are used properly,” said Jowell, who is running to be Labour’s candidate for London’s 2016 mayoral election. |
| “We need the Met and City Hall to be clear that officers are required to turn their cameras on. It should be mandatory for the camera to be on during all stop-and-search and all stop-and-account interactions between the police and members of the public. Cameras will only build trust if Londoners can be sure they are there to serve citizens, and not just the police.” | “We need the Met and City Hall to be clear that officers are required to turn their cameras on. It should be mandatory for the camera to be on during all stop-and-search and all stop-and-account interactions between the police and members of the public. Cameras will only build trust if Londoners can be sure they are there to serve citizens, and not just the police.” |
| Lady Lawrence, a community relations campaigner whose son Stephen was murdered in a racist attack in 1993, said: “Too often the police and young people feel worlds apart, particularly for black and minority ethnic groups. There are practical things we can do to rebuild trust.” | |
| The report also recommends that more effort be made to recruit black and minority ethnic people into the police, highlighting that more than four in 10 Londoners are from BME groups compared with only one in 10 London police officers. | The report also recommends that more effort be made to recruit black and minority ethnic people into the police, highlighting that more than four in 10 Londoners are from BME groups compared with only one in 10 London police officers. |
| In a statement, Supt Ade Hutchinson, from the body-worn project team, said that they offered extensive guidance and training to officers wearing cameras | |
| “The MPS [Metropolitan police service] guidance has been in the public domain for quite some time and we are absolutely committed to ensuring that officers on the ground are using the equipment appropriately and in accordance with this guidance,” he said. | |
| “We have monitored [body-worn video] use during the course of the pilot, particularly in respect of issues that Londoners have told us matter to them. Checks of stop-and-search encounters and incidents of domestic abuse during the pilot show that officers are complying with this operational guidance effectively. | |
| “As the [MPS] moves to roll out BWV fully, the guidance is being reviewed in light of the pilot and will be turned into formal policy.” |