Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the use of body-worn cameras by police officers.

The Government recognises the important role that body-worn video can play in supporting effective, transparent and accountable policing. College of Policing and National Police Chief’s Council guidance supports the use of body-worn video during police encounters, including stop and search. Operational decisions on its deployment remain a matter for Chief Constables.

The College of Policing, in its 2024 guidance, highlights that body-worn video can improve evidential capture, support transparency and accountability by providing an objective record of police-public interactions, and strengthen public confidence through facilitating scrutiny of police encounters and the use of police powers.