Pinnacle Response Ltd - Complaints fall dramatically with use of body-worn video cameras

Complaints fall dramatically with use of body-worn video cameras
Prompted by Obama’s call for a national roll-out of police body cameras, the Washington Post reported in December on their successful use in a regional airport in Missouri. Springfield-Branson is a small airport about 200 miles from Ferguson. They have been significantly ahead of the curve in their use of the technology; their police officers have been wearing body cameras since 2008.

In that time they have seen complaints against their officers plummet – from several a week to reportedly less than one a month. Springfield-Branson offers flights to 11 US cities and police supervisor Kevin Houseman explained how the use of body-mounted video has a dramatic impact on confrontations between the public and his officers.

Houseman said “people can see the cameras so they act out less. Officers who know they are being recorded tend to be on their best behaviour.” He also pointed out that those disputes that did arise were often settled swiftly once the complainant was shown the footage from an incident.

Trials have undoubtedly shown that the use of body cameras can deescalate tensions at the public interface and this is of considerable interest to the aviation industry. Airlines and airport authorities are increasingly keen to adopt the technology within their security systems. This is in line with initiatives in adjacent transport security sectors within the UK.