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The body representing police officers have backed the ongoing rollout of body-worn cameras across Scotland, as Stirling councillors were given an update on their effectiveness locally. The controversial body-worn video system aimed at helping clamp down on crime has already made a big impact in Forth Valley. That was the verdict from Police Scotland when they gave a presentation at a recent meeting of the Stirling Council Public Safety committee. The system was introduced by Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell as part of a key change aimed at modernising the force and was launched on September 24 within the Forth Valley area. A national rollout of the cameras is set to be completed by the middle of 2026, with Scottish Police Federation chairman David Threadgold keen to see the implementation completed quickly. He told the Observer: "We are already seeing the impact of body-worn in a number of areas, including decisions getting made quicker which allow officers to get back to work and serve communities. "The public now know they are being recorded and that should lead to a decline in assaults and violence towards police which is far too high currently. "The overall message from us is that this is a really positive news story and wish they had been here 20 years ago. "The quicker we can give officers dealing with the public the equipment they need to help keep them safe in the incidents where it is required, the better." At last week's meeting, a Police Scotland spokesman told members: “There was strong support for body-worn video and there is strong public support for it. “In our biggest ever national consultation took place featuring 9000 respondents, it showed 81 per cent in positive agreement that it would increase confidence in public policing. “In terms of our officers and staff, there is a reduced number of complaints against the police and those which do come in can be resolved more timeously. It is supporting our officers and staff by reducing assaults on them and on some occasions, some of our ethnic minority staff are being less verbally abused than they were before. “There are some negatives as there are extra time commitments for officers having to review the footage. But it will not replace existing procedures and won't shorten enquiries for police as officers will have to capture as much evidence as is available.” Trossachs and Teith representative Martin Earl asked what would happen if a device was not working or was broken. The Police Scotland representative said that there were other pool devices available which could be assigned to the officer concerned but that most of the devices had batteries which should last for a full shift. Cllr Jen Preston asked who decided which footage was kept or deleted. Police Scotland said that crime-related footage would be retained but anything of no value would be deleted. Before the system went live, Police Scotland sent out a tool kit to partner agencies and invited them into open sessions. It is a small lightweight camera device fitted to the chest area to officers’ body armour and can be used on issues including mental health, a sudden death or road traffic collision. All uniformed officers are using it and people will be aware they have it. The devices can be used when arresting suspects, executing search warrants and also in police custody. The evidence won’t be retained if unnecessary and will only be used if relevant and if not needed, as well as possibly being marked for deletion.
