No rush for WA cop cams
WA Police will not immediately follow the lead of NSW in equipping frontline officers with body cameras.
The NSW Government has announced a $4 million rollout of military-style "body cams" - lightweight, miniature video cameras clipped to uniforms, helmets or vehicles - to record evidence during incidents.
A spokeswoman for WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said cameras were already used in WA by motorcycle patrol officers, who often worked alone, and in advance-traffic management vehicles. She said Mr O'Callaghan had considered body cameras being used more broadly by WA Police officers but hinted at a cost-benefit analysis before any final decision.
"The value of using body cams for more routine police work has to be weighed against the cost of maintaining a system for recording, storage and retrieval of thousands of gigabytes of data and the complexity of maintaining security protocols around access," she said.
The spokeswoman said Mr O'Callaghan was in regular contact with his counterparts from other States and is expected to monitor the progress of the NSW rollout.
