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Decision Maker: Leader of the Council
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: No
To approve the introduction of body worn cameras by council public realm enforcement officers, in order to assist staff to do their job effectively and to protect their health and safety.
Matter for Decision
Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) have been in use in the UK since
2006, and the
officer’s report provided information to members on the introduction of BWC for
Enforcement Officers (EOs), as a means of improving ‘incident specific’
evidence, personal safety and improving the delivery of environmental crime
enforcement within Cambridge.
Decision of the Leader and Executive Councillor for
Strategy and Transformation
i.
Noted
the contents of the report and agreed to the implementation of the use of Body Worn Cameras by
Enforcement Officers as outlined in the report from 10 October 2016.
ii.
Authorised
the purchase of Body Worn Cameras from the Fixed Penalty Notice fund.
iii.
Approved
the Code of Practice and Operational Procedure, as set out in Appendix A and B
respectively, of the Officer’s report subject to the insertion in the Purpose
Statement of the Code of Practice (s.3, p.181) of an additional bullet point
with the words: to promote officer compliance with council policies and
procedures and to the addition to the end of Recording section of the
Operational Procedure (s3.4, p.188) of a sentence with the words: Recording may
also be instigated by Council Officers at the request of a member of the public
who is being engaged by an Enforcement Officer.
iv.
Requested
officers brought as part of the annual CCTV report to the scrutiny committee on
operation of Body Worn Cameras, showing:
·
Frequency of making recordings
·
Conformance with storage duration
guidelines
·
Actual use of recordings for the
purposes defined
·
Supply of recordings to other
agencies
·
Availability of recordings of
incidents where a public complaint is later made
Reason for the Decision
As set out in the Officer’s report.
Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
Not applicable.
Scrutiny Considerations
The Committee received a report from the Operations Manager –
Community Engagement and Enforcement.
The Committee made the following comment in response to the report:
i.
Body worn cameras would
offer a source of protection to the public as well as to officers.
ii.
Questioned how it could be
ensured that cameras were switched on when they needed to be.
Officers said the following in response to Members’ questions:
i.
The public can ask that
Officers turn on their cameras if the member of the public wants the incident to
be recorded. A light showed when the camera was recording.
Councillor Bick proposed the following amendments (additional text underlined):
Add to end of
Recommendation (3):
Approve
the Code of Practice and Operational Procedure, as set out in Appendix A and B
respectively of this report:
·
subject to the insertion in the Purpose Statement of the Code
of Practice (s.3, p.181) of an additional bullet point with the words: to promote officer compliance with council
policies and procedures
·
subject to the addition to the end of Recording section of
the Operational Procedure (s3.4, p.188) of a sentence with the words: Recording may also be instigated by Council
Officers at the request of a member of the public who is being engaged by an
Enforcement Officer.”
Add further
recommendation 4:
Request officers
to bring as part of the annual CCTV report to the scrutiny committee on
operation of Body Worn Cameras, showing:
·
Frequency of making recordings
·
Conformance with storage duration guidelines
·
Actual use of recordings for the purposes defined
·
Supply of recordings to other agencies
·
Availability of recordings of incidents where a public
complaint is later made
On a show of hands this was agreed unanimously.
The amended recommendation was therefore put to the vote:
v.
Note
the contents of the report and agreed to the implementation of the use of Body Worn Cameras
by Enforcement Officers as outlined in the report from 10 October 2016.
vi.
Authorise
the purchase of Body Worn Cameras from the Fixed Penalty Notice fund.
vii.
Approve
the Code of Practice and Operational Procedure, as set out in Appendix A and B
respectively, of the Officer’s report subject to the insertion in the Purpose
Statement of the Code of Practice (s.3, p.181) of an additional bullet point
with the words: to promote officer
compliance with council policies and procedures and to the addition to the
end of Recording section of the Operational Procedure (s3.4, p.188) of a
sentence with the words: Recording may
also be instigated by Council Officers at the request of a member of the public
who is being engaged by an Enforcement Officer.
viii.
Request
officers to bring as part of the annual CCTV report to the scrutiny committee
on operation of Body Worn Cameras, showing:
·
Frequency of making recordings
·
Conformance with storage duration
guidelines
·
Actual use of recordings for the
purposes defined
·
Supply of recordings to other
agencies
·
Availability of recordings of
incidents where a public complaint is later made
The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse
the amended recommendations.
The Leader approved the amended recommendations.
Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Leader (and any Dispensations
Granted)
No conflicts of interest
were declared by the Leader.
Publication date: 09/11/2016
Date of decision: 10/10/2016