Met police to do the beat with head-mounted cameras

ASBO crackdown

Posted in Public Sector, 21st November 2006 09:39 GMT

Free whitepaper – Unified Server Configurator

Police officers in London have begun to use a camera mounted on their headgear in an effort to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Officers in the 19 safer neighbourhood teams in the Haringey area have been issued with eight cameras, each the size of an AA battery, that record video images to a special utility belt. They are activated by a switch on the belt.

The equipment, which costs around £1,800 per pack and is funded by Haringey Council's Safer Communities Partnership, will be used to gather images that could be used as evidence in future court proceedings, the Metropolitan Police announced.

A spokesperson told GC News the standard camera can store up to 12 hours of video. An extra battery pack can extend this to up to 400 hours, although this makes the equipment much heavier.

Detective superintendent Richard Wood said: "The cameras will act as an excellent deterrent for any youngsters who are intent on causing trouble.

"Should anyone commit any offences the officers will instantly have the evidence to hand to help them apply for an ASBO or pursue criminal charges. If the cameras prove successful they will be deployed to other units within Haringey and could be used to assist police raids and officers working at football matches." ®

This article was originally published at Kablenet.

Kablenet's GC weekly is a free email newsletter covering the latest news and analysis of public sector technology. To register click here.

Free whitepaper – Systems management simplified