Gun cops get body cams go-ahead

FIREARMS police officers in Scotland are to be given body cameras to record incidents.

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) announced the £505,000 deal yesterday for body-worn video Axon Flex 2 (BWV) cameras in time for Cop26, the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, which begins on October 31.

Assistant Chief Constable Kenny MacDonald said: ‘Armed policing remains an area of high risk and understandable public scrutiny – and as such the rollout of body-worn video will help improve transparency and accountability.

‘While this is not new technology, and every other armed policing unit in the UK uses body-worn cameras, it is a significant introduction for Scottish policing.’

An online survey by Police Scotland in February asked the public about their views on armed officers using BWV to record certain incidents, with nearly 9,000 responses. Martyn Evans, SPA chairman, said: ‘The authority supports fully the rollout of BWV to Police Scotland’s armed officers in advance of the Cop26 conference.

‘There is clear evidence of the benefits for policing, the public and the wider criminal justice system when BWV is available.’

Cop26 will be held at Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus from October 31 to November 12, having been postponed from last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 120 heads of state expected to attend, along with around 20,000 accredited delegates.

Paul Strozier, Axon managing director in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to be able to work with Police Scotland on this critical deployment of both cameras and software to equip their armed policing officers.’