Policies and Guidance on Use of Body Worn Video
Publication Number: 1512
FOI Number: 18280
Disclosure:
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public authorities:
Unless exemptions apply, the first duty (at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held.
The second duty (at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
However, where exemptions are relied upon (Section 17 of FOIA), there is a requirement to provide the applicant with an explanation either:
- a) stating the fact
- b) detailing the exemption(s) in question and
- c) why the exemption applies (if not apparent).
Information Request
1) When in someone's home, do employees of Essex Police have a duty to inform those present that they have turned their BWV on? Please provide relevant guidance issued to employees if it exists or signpost me to where I can find information that will answer my question.
2) What is your policy on retaining BWV footage where it is established no offences have occurred but a PP57 referral has been made? Please provide relevant guidance issued to employees if it exists or signpost me to where I can find information that will answer my question.
3) What is your policy on using BWV footage in return to home interviews for children reported missing?
- Please provide any guidance issued to employees of Essex Police in relation to using BWV for the purposes of capturing footage of an under 18
FOI Duty
First Duty – Essex Police does hold information relating to all your request.
Second Duty – See below
Fact – See below
Exemption – Not applicable
Essex Police can report as follows:
Caveat: The links and statements are correct as at 10 March 2023.
The following links to the policy and procedure apply, with responses to Questions below being referenced at Section 3.1.4 of the A0901 Procedure:
A0900 Policy - Body Worn Video | Essex Police
Question 1:
Essex Police Officers do not have a duty to inform residents that they activating their cameras. The rationale is that Officers are required to activate their cameras in any exercise of any of their policing powers. A certain amount of discretion is allowed where the filming is requested to be stopped or there is no evidential purpose in continuing filming.
Officers are advised that best practice, is to inform the person that our camera is active.
The cameras are clearly marked and will have recording lights visible when active.
Question 2:
There are no guidelines on the retention of non-offence type captures as Essex Police are not allowed to retain footage that is of non-evidential value. However, we have standalone categories within Essex Police Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) for vulnerable person, child neglect/cruelty, missing person and DA which are not offence committed necessary, but are still used to retain footage where one of these triggers are met or there is concern , such as the submission of a PP57. The ongoing concern for a particular subject may necessitate the retention of non-offence footage as part of an ongoing investigation or duty of care. There is no way of knowing from our storage if a PP57 has been submitted alongside any footage captured , unless the officer included reference to this in the title field within DAMS.
Question 3:
Again at the discretion of the officer but with the above expectation that all interactions are captured unless deemed unsuitable or unnecessary. Again all interaction where the officer has cause for concern, there are numerous categories within DAMS to cater for just such events, Misper, Child Neglect, Vulnerable person which would encompass most eventualities. As our power to film stems directly from common law we are allowed to film in the course of our normal interactions and course of our duty, there is no specific requirement to distinguish under or over 18 year old subjects. Again this can be discretionary by individual officers dependent on the incident/interaction taking place. Strict enforcement is centred around the non-retention of non-evidential footage and Data Protection Impact Assessment.
Please note that procedures are updated regularly and therefore the data above is only correct as at the time of publishing.
Every effort is made to ensure that the data provided by Essex Police is accurate and complete. However, Essex Police systems are designed primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the purposes of providing data to answer specific FOI enquiries. Please note although data can be extracted from a number of sources via database queries, the results may be subject to inaccuracies. Care should be taken to understand our return when considering the interpretation or further use of the data.
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