Body cams and the Law

While there are no laws in the UK specifically regarding the use of body cameras in a public space (other jurisdictions may differ), users should note that recording on private property requires consent from the property owner and persistent filming of the same individual might be considered harassment (see > Harassment and the Law)

• Users should (wherever possible or practical) announce to the subject(s) of an encounter that video and audio recording is taking place using a body worn camera.
• To be useful as evidence recordings should commence at the start of an incident and should continue uninterrupted until the incident is concluded.
• All recordings must be securely held. Access to recordings should be controlled and only persons having the ‘operational need’ to view specific incidents may view them.
• All footage recorded with a body worn camera must be retained in accordance with personal data guidelines. 

No, a CCTV Licence is not needed to to wear a body camera. However, if using the body camera to monitor or record people in a public place, it may be necessary to comply with applicable data protection laws.

The statutory definition of “public place” contained within the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 at section 1(4) is not very helpful but states it ‘includes any highway and any other premises of place to which at the material time the public have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise’.

Institutions to which the public have access such as churches and museums, however, may own the land, making these a ‘private’ setting which has a significant effect on the need for permission to take photographs.

Note that a vehicle is also considered as a public place, unless it was parked on private property at the time. This presumably means that photographs and video can be taken of or inside a vehicle, and may be relevant in terms of photographing unsecured firearms or offensive weapons as “Possessing an offensive weapon in a public place is an offence contrary to s 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953”.

Activists may find themselves in situations where they are speaking with police wearing body cameras.

• The camera may not be swiched on. Typically a flashing red light in the middle of the device shows when it’s being used.
• An officer must notify anybody present that they are being recorded.

The College of Policing says that “deployment and use differs across forces” but guidelines will be similar to those issued by the Metroplitan Police and published in an FOI in 2016.

“Body Worn Video (BWV) is an overt system and should not be used for covert recording other than in exceptional circumstances and where the necessary authorities have been granted.

As BWV is overt recording, officers must declare wherever possible when they are commencing audio and video recording during each and every encounter.

• The use of BWV must be proportionate and necessary to the situation.

• BWV use should be ‘incident specific.’

• The MPS expectation is that Body Worn Video should be used in any circumstance outlined below:
  1. Where it may assist in providing a record of evidence in respect of the investigation of any offence or suspected offence.
  2. When the use of BWV would provide transparency of an encounter (for example Stop & Search, Use of force)
  3. When users would have been expected or required to have completed a written record or report of an encounter or incident.
  4. Any other occasion when the user thinks a recording may be of evidential value in the future and to make a recording is proportionate and lawful in the circumstances.

There are a variety of circumstances where the use of BWV is mandatory – these are:

1. When a user decides to use statutory powers to stop a motor vehicle in order to engage with one or more of the occupants.
2. When users attend premises in order to effect an arrest.
3. Prior to entering any land, premises, vehicle, vessel or aircraft in pursuance of any legal power in order to search those premises and for the duration of the search.
4. When a user stops a person in a public place in order to ask them to account for their actions in order to establish their possible involvement or otherwise in an offence.
5. When a user decides to conduct a search of a person, premises, land, vehicle, vessel or aircraft in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) code A or any other statutory search power.
6. When attending Critical Incidents.
7. Where a user exercises the use of force against persons or property.
8. Where a user gives a direction to an individual or group under any statutory power.
9. When attending Domestic Abuse or suspected Domestic Abuse incidents.

All footage will only be retained for a maximum of 31 days unless a user decides it is to be retained for evidence, disclosure or other policing purpose.

The need for retention must be justifiable and clear.

Simply retaining footage ‘just in case’ is not a strong enough test and the investigator or Officer in the case (OIC) in each instance must be capable of justifying why on a case by case basis.

All footage, whether ‘used’ or ‘unused’ material, must be disclosed in criminal proceedings.

BWV footage is subject to the principles outlined in the Data Protection Act. This prohibits the random dip-sampling of retained footage other than for supervision and/or investigation purposes as outlined above.

Open access to any database or server containing BWV footage for reasons other than this will not normally be granted unless exceptional circumstances exist and authority is given by the Director of Professional Standards.”

Whether what you are recorded saying (or what you record someone else saying) on a body cam is useable as evidence in court or is not allowed as ‘hearsay’ might have an important bearing on a case.

An interesting (but complex) argument is made in an online article assessing whether audio captured by body cams constitues ‘hearsay’ and is therefore unadmissible in court.

While the article is lengthy the authors state that “The classic hearsay dangers are accepted to be ambiguity, insincerity, misperception and faulty memory” and that “Where the hearsay statements that a party seeks to adduce are video recorded these risks are clearly reduced. The jury viewing the recording see and hear an account given closer in time to the occurrence of the relevant events when the witness’s memory would have been more complete. Consequently, the account is likely to contain a greater amount of accurate detail and fewer errors“.

They conclude that “There is no doubt as to the value that body worn video recorded evidence might serve in the criminal trial. We consider that a strong case can be made for more widespread use, subject to necessary safeguards, to take witness accounts instead of the current
process of producing written statements. Section 137 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 should be brought into force to facilitate this.”

• Always bear in mind that any statement you make to someone wearing a body cam may end up being used as evidence in court.

Wildlife crime is defined as any action which contravenes current legislation governing the protection of the UK’s wild flora and fauna, including species traded in the UK.

Note that wildlife crime does NOT include:

• Incidents involving domestic or companion animals such as dogs (other than dogs being used to hunt mammals), cats, rabbits, domesticated birds, etc.

• Wild animals that have been involved (killed or injured etc) in road traffic accidents.

Road accidents with wild animals do not need to be reported to the police, but note that domestic animals (as well as goats, horses, cattle, asses, mules, sheep and pigs) come within the remit of the Road Traffic Act.
If you have a road accident involving these animals you are required by law to report it to the police. If the wild animal is so badly injured in a road accident that there is no chance of recovery or the animal can not be returned to the wild then he or she may be euthanised, providing there is no appropriate long-term captive or semi-captive accommodation or when treatment would involve undue suffering or distress.

If we come across a wildlife crime scene or a dead bird/object that may be related to a wildlife crime every piece of information is – or might be – important, but it needs to be recorded properly and accurately for the authorities to have a chance of prosecuting an offender.

• Before we do anything else it is very important that we do NOT approach anyone we suspect of committing a crime – they may be violent and/or aggressive. This is especially true of badger baiters and hare coursers who are typically extremely violent. This must be a first priority!

If we see a wildlife crime taking place (or someone is at risk of getting injured or is being threatened) call 999 immediately.

They will want to know what we can see happening:

• What sort of crime is being committed
• Are any firearms involved
• Could we or the public be in danger

To report a historic crime – that is, a crime that is no longer taking place – use 101 or a local organisation instead.

• If calling the police ask to speak to a Wildlife Crime Officer and make sure to get an Incident Report number.
• Please always follow any advice given and – if they are not available – insist that a Wildlife Crime Officer is made aware of your report.
•  Our options are wider if the event is over, and it may be preferable to talk first to a charity or NGO to get advice. Crimestoppers (an independent charity) can be contacted in complete confidence on 0800 555 111
• When thinking about reporting a crime it’s worth noting that only the police have statutory powers to make an arrest. RSPCA and RSPB investigation officers work with the police for successful prosecutions.

Reporting a wildlife crime (or even a suspected wildlife crime) is important for two reasons.

• If the event is still happening it may enable the authorities to catch the criminals ‘in the act’ (which means a higher chance of prosecution),
• and if the event is over a report can still help to build up a more accurate picture of what might be happening in a specific location or across the country as a whole.

Our help is always welcomed

• Whoever we decide to contact we have been assured that our help is welcomed and that if we’re in any doubt that what we’re seeing is a crime we should report it anyway. Remember, if what we see ‘feels’ wrong, it probably is!

• Even if we’re not sure about what we’re seeing, we can take a photograph and email it to the police or an investigations officer – they are trained to quickly recognise for example when a snare is illegally placed, whether a trap is being used illegally, or whether a crime is being committed or not.
• We may help stop or solve future crimes by helping build up a pattern of behaviour in an area.