Police Scotland to roll out body cameras from next summer
- Published
Frontline officers will be issued with body cams from next summer
Police Scotland will start the roll out of body-worn cameras from next summer, the force's chief constable has said.
Jo Farrell said the technology would help secure "better and quicker" outcomes for victims of crime.
The chief constable told the MSPs it was her ambition that all frontline officers would be equipped with the devices.
But she said security systems would need to be upgraded before a full deployment could take place.
Police Scotland is the second largest force in the UK after the Met but it is the only one not to have the cameras as standard equipment.
In September First Minister Humza Yousaf reiterated his pledge to introduce the devices, three years after former lord advocate Dame Eilish Angiolini KC recommended their use was "accelerated".
A pilot programme has been run in Aberdeen and other parts of the north east since 2012.
Ms Farrell, who replaced Sir Iain Livingstone in October, told the Scottish Parliament's justice committee that the "security infrastructure" around the devices had to be robust before any move could be made.
She added: "Given the scale of the rollout, and our ambition is every frontline officer has body worn video, the actual purchase and deployment of the cameras is probably the easy part of this.
"One of the emerging and increasing threats that we see to any organisation is in relation to cyber security, so it was important that the infrastructure was not only right for Police Scotland, but that that infrastructure could feed in to the broader criminal justice system.
"And over and above that, everyone could be assured that security of that data was such that we could confidently move forward."
'Larger scale'
Body cameras were introduced in Durham Constabulary, where Ms Farrell was previously chief constable, in 2015.
The devices, which can be affixed to an officer's clothing, record audio and video footage when they respond to an incident.
They can also act as an independent witness for potential court cases.
Police Scotland's deputy chief officer David Page previously told MSPs there was "no guarantee" they would be available by 2024.
But Ms Farrell was confident the initial stages would be ready by mid 2024.
She said: "It is quite straight forward when it is on quite a small scale, but we are bringing eight crime systems from the eight legacy forces together.
"This is a larger scale but we are looking for the roll out to start next summer."
Scottish Police Federation general secretary David Kennedy welcomed the move.
He also described increased funding for the force, announced by Deputy First Minister Shona Robison on Tuesday, as "encouraging".
But he added: "There is still a long way to go to make up the billions of pounds that have historically been stripped from the budget.
"Continual proper financial investment is needed to make policing the priority that it should be."