Body-worn video policy – documentary analysis

The aim of this comparative documentary analysis is to provide Humberside Police with a series of recommendations to promote and ensure good practice in the content and formulation of their Body Worn Video (BWV) policy.

This analysis encompasses a review of 18 force-level policies on the use of BWV. The sample of forces selected for this review is based upon a number of considerations: a desire to examine the policies of forces deemed by HMIC to be performing strongly (thus suggesting good practice); a range of forces encompassing large, medium and small forces to determine if any differences in approaches exist; and to include in the sample Humberside Police’s neighbouring forces in the North North-East region.

The analysis of force policies was supplemented by an examination of eight further documents drawn from regulatory and advisory bodies. These documents include good practice guides, codes of practice and position statements from institutions including the College of Policing (CoP), the Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the National Council of Police Chiefs (NCPC). All documents examined in this analysis are currently publicly available (with the exception of Humberside Police’s BWV policy which is due to be made public soon). A full list of the documents analysed is available in Appendix 2 at the end of this report. Appendix 3 also provides a table detailing which forces’ policies (and associated documents) were examined, together with supplementary information concerning the format of these documents, where they can be located and how they may be accessed.

This report is structured around five key principles which emerge from the comparative analysis. These principles represent what we deem to be ‘good practice’ within the sample of forces’ BWV policies. Principles I and II refer to broad considerations around the visibility and accessibility of BWV policies. Principles III, IV and V are concerned with the substantive content of these policies from a number of perspectives. Implications for Humberside Police are outlined at the end of the analysis, together with recommendations tailored specifically to Humberside Police and its existing BWV policy.