A performance audit into how Victoria Police used and governed body-worn cameras (BWC) has found that while its policies were fit-for-purpose, it did not have a way to track officers’ use of the cameras.
In his report Managing Body-Worn Cameras, Auditor-General Andrew Greaves acknowledged Victoria Police had fit-for-purpose policies and training materials for the use of BWCs as well as appropriate controls to protect footage.
“Victoria Police does not have a way to consistently track all police officers’ use of BWCs and does not know how compliant they are with activation requirements overall,” Mr Greaves said.
“Our testing found police officers activated their BWCs in 83.6 per cent of instances they were required to record footage,” he said.
“This may impact the intended benefits of BWCs, which include improved public safety.”
Mr Greaves said Victoria Police used BWC footage to help resolve complaints and assist with some legal proceedings.
He said however that it did not have processes to measure the degree of impact this was having.
“It is also not currently tracking achievement of intended benefits,” the Auditor-General said.
“Victoria Police is likely to miss opportunities to continuously improve its use of BWCs unless it actively monitors police officers’ performance and drives best practice,” he said.
Mr Greaves made eight recommendations around the capture and management of BWC footage, and achieving and tracking the intended benefits.
The Auditor-General’s 45-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
