News today that police across the state will soon wear video recording equipment is likely to stir debate about privacy.
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But police have made a convincing and detailed argument about how the new cameras, known as BWVs, will help them more effectively do their job – which will ultimately be a good thing for communities like Maitland.
The wearable cameras continuously capture footage of the environment in front of them.
But it’s only when the officer wearing the camera pushes a button that the device stores the previous 30 seconds of video.
So, if an officer sees someone grab a person’s wallet and run off down the street, they could activate the BWV and, ideally, footage of the incident would be saved to use as evidence against the thief in court.
Video footage can also be used to make sure police have acted lawfully.
As unsettling as it may have been, the footage recorded by a member of the public that depicted two police officers shooting a man dead in Warners Bay recently will no doubt be a key piece of evidence used by investigators to determine whether those officers acted appropriately.
Generally, police say the technology will decrease the number of unnecessary not guilty pleas in court, improve officer conduct and offender behaviour and decrease the risk of escalating violence.
While there could be accusations of bias in the recordings, given that police control of when the footage begins and ends, it’s everybody’s legal right to record their own video of an incident in a public place.
Questions of privacy will always be a grey area in public debate, especially as technology continues to advance.
But commonsense says that technology like BWVs, if used appropriately, will have a positive impact on the community.
