Police Scotland officers to get body-worn cameras in 'late summer'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Police Scotland's frontline officers are set to receive body-worn cameras by "late summer", according to the force's chief constable.Chief constable Jo Farrell, in a report due for discussion at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) board meeting on Thursday, stated that since taking up her role in October last year, one of her main goals has been to provide more officers with these video cameras, typically worn on the officer's chest.She explained: "We continue to work through considerations around the cross-system, digital evidence sharing capability (DESC) a crucial capability to share evidence captured, for example, by officers through body-worn video, to help prosecutors and courts make quicker decisions about proceedings and secure swifter resolutions.""One of my first commitments to my fellow officers and staff when I joined Police Scotland was that we had to push on with the rollout of body-worn video.""We are moving at pace and I expect rollout of body-worn video to frontline officers and staff to begin in the late summer."In a previous SPA board meeting in November, the idea of providing more officers with tasers was also discussed.Ms Farrell noted that while assaults on police officers and staff have decreased, any assault is one too many.She suggested that both bodycams and Tasers could have a "positively" effect on behaviour and wanted consideration given to increasing the number of officers who carry the devices.SPA chairman Martyn Evans said that they look at these requests "very carefully" but the board won't stop it if it's thought to be a fair answer to what the police need.The SPA mentioned they can't say anything before Thursday's meeting.Police Scotland was asked to give their thoughts. Don't miss the