The New South Wales police force will review whether body-worn cameras on officers should automatically switch on, Guardian Australia has learned.
At July there were 5,217 body-worn cameras being used by NSW police to record incidents, crime scenes and interactions with the public. The standard operating procedures document states officers can choose when to activate them and deactivate them, but outlines when officers should and should not film.
For instance, it is recommended the video be switched on at vehicle stops or when first arriving at a crime scene, but officers are told not to leave the cameras running all shift, particularly while on patrol in cars where unrelated or general commentary might be made that could prejudice a case.
In August the NSW police commissioner, Mick Fuller, told state parliament the public assumed body-worn cameras would automatically switch on when an officer drew his or her taser or gun, but that was not the case.
He said NSW police was considering investing in cameras that would communicate via Bluetooth with guns and tasers so when an officer drew their weapon, every camera within 100m turned on.
Fuller also said a major review of the policy of allowing officers to decide when the video recording was switched on or off would begin next year.
“These reviews are intended to ensure we are providing the best possible service to the community by taking advantage of available technology,” it said.
The use of body-worn police cameras has been in the spotlight since an officer at protests for the mining conference in Melbourne earlier this month put a sticker with “EAD [eat a dick] hippy” on his camera. The officer in question is facing disciplinary action, but it had been reported the sticker did not cover the camera’s lens.
The Age subsequently reported on Monday that the guidelines reviewed recently by Victoria police say officers have discretion over when they can switch the cameras on and off. However, like NSW, this is relatively common policy owing to the relatively recent rollout of the technology across the state and territory police forces.
Aside from NSW’s manual policy, in the ACT – which only recently started rolling out just under 400 body-worn cameras – the cameras activate when a weapon is drawn, and recently policy was changed to allow officers to manually switch on the camera.
During a trial in Western Australia, it was up to police to decide when to turn the camera on, but as it now deploys about 4,200 cameras, they will automatically turn on when an officer draws their gun, and officers will be required to switch on their cameras when attending domestic violence complaints or physical or hostile situations.
Queensland police policy requires officers to record before and during the exercising of a police power or applying the use of force, unless it was impractical. In July it announced the number of cameras would expand from 2,100 to 7,700.
In the Northern Territory all frontline officers have body-worn cameras, and must be swiched on before and during any encounter with the public where the officer utilises a police power, unless impractical.
NT police confirmed that the officer charged with murder over the shooting of 19-year-old Indigenous man Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu had his camera switched on at the time of the alleged murder.
At last report, in late 2018, there were more than 200 body-worn cameras in use across Tasmania. Officers were required to activate the camera before and during any situation where an officer exercises police power “unless there is a genuine reason not to do so”.
South Australia has body-worn cameras for all of its frontline officers, and they are required to film interactions with the public.
Police forces across Australian generally speak positively about the use of body-worn cameras, saying it has an effect on the behaviour of members of the public when they know they are being filmed. In its annual report last year NT police said that while complaints made about officer behaviour were up, it was expected that footage would lead to a drop in the number of cases investigated by the ombudsman.
But in the states where filming was not mandatory, there was concern about what NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge told Fuller was “one-sided accountability”, where the video protected officers more than the public.
Fuller said in August he wanted officers to use it more.
“I want police to use it more and we are changing our policy to make sure that is the case,” he said.
“Whether or not it sits perfectly with the Mr Shoebridge’s sort of position on it I do not know, but we are moving much closer to policy that makes it, not mandatory – I do not want to use that term – but certainly much more proactive in using it.”
A 2017 Australian Institute of Criminology study of police detainees on their attitudes to body-worn cameras found 80% thought they were a good idea because they provided a more accurate and complete version of events. But some were concerned the ability for police officers to turn them on and off could threaten any increased accountability.
