North Wales Police officers to get body-worn cameras as standard

Officers for North Wales Police will now be issued with a camera as standard

Wearing cameras will become standard issue for officers in North Wales.

Arfon Jones, North Wales' Police and Crime Commissioner, said all members of the force would get access to body-worn police cameras when they were on duty.

In the next month 1,115 cameras will be made available to members of the force at a cost of £519,000.

Mr Jones brought in the cameras when he was first elected, but they were limited in number and only available to front line officers.

He said the policy of having officers wearing the cameras had proven to be successful as a tool for gathering evidence and it meant there had been a drop in the number of complaints about the force.

"They've been a success with domestic violence," Mr Jones told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Arfon Jones was elected the Police and Crime Commissioner for north Wales in May 2016

"Officers use it where there is a potential for a confrontation. They'll turn on the video because it also prevents complaints being made."

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However, civil liberty campaigner group Liberty said it feared the move could lead to "intrusion".

"Body-worn cameras contribute to the ever-expanding web of surveillance technology being rolled out by police, and can record people in homes and other private spaces," it said.