Police officers across the Territory can now use their body-worn-cameras (BWCs) in a wide arrange of circumstances, as legislative changes come into effect.
Marking the commencement, ACT Policing said the majority of its officers were issued BWCs in 2019 and they had helped capture real-time records of critical events, gather evidence and record public interactions with police.
“Importantly, the use of BWCs by police has also assisted with issues of accountability and transparency in relation to police actions,” ACT Policing said.
“The changes that come into effect today (11 February) now require police to use their BWCs when interacting with members of the public in most circumstances, in both public and in private settings,” it said.
“An example of locations where police are now permitted to film include when a person is stopped by police while driving their car, or when an officer comes into a home in response to a domestic incident.”
ACT Policing said as part of the use of BWCs, officers would wear their BWC where they were easily seen; tell a person that their BWC was recording; inform a person that they were recording if asked; inform a person if they were not recording and why; and record the interaction if a person asked for it to be recorded.
“ACT Policing is confident that these changes will benefit the ACT community and assist our officers in carrying out their duties in a way that continues our high-quality policing services to the ACT,” it said.
