Council to consider body cameras for staff

Council staff could be issued with body cameras to improve safety and reduce abusive and aggressive behaviour.

A recommendation to give the devices to frontline officers working in public protection, private sector housing, development management, building control, finance and tenancy services was put to South Kesteven District councillors on Tuesday.

Independent councillor Philip Knowles said the technology would help to "provide an accurate record of events" and increase "transparency and accountability".

The scrutiny committee which covers the environment and community said the proposal would be discussed by the authority's cabinet at a later date.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, body cameras are already worn by civil enforcement officers who issue parking tickets and fines for littering and dog fouling.

Councillor Max Sawyer asked what would happen "if the evidence is lost" because of an "altercation".

In response, Ayeisha Kirkham, the council's head of service for public protection, said: "It would be absolutely horrendous if an officer had that sort of experience where it was destroyed in some sort of altercation.

"But if the evidence is lost, it's just that it doesn't add to our case, so we can't utilise it.

"Most of the steps that we put in place are to secure the evidence and to make sure that it is available to us, so we can do something."

Under the proposal, officers would only use the cameras in situations where they felt at risk of harm or to protect their safety.

Staff would be trained on how to store and record footage correctly, display that they are wearing a device and verbally state when recording is taking place.

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