Body cameras are to be in widespread use by the Bermuda Police Service before the Hallowe’en weekend, it was announced yesterday.

Acting assistant commissioner Darrin Simons said 117 AXON body cameras had been bought and would be rolled out from Friday.

“The use of body-worn cameras by police in many jurisdictions has grown significantly in recent years and has been credited with improving the quality of evidence presented at court as well as reducing the number of complaints against police,” he said.

“Our own experience with body-worn cameras has been a positive one. The presence of a camera has provided additional evidence towards solving a crime or has validated an officer’s account of an incident. We believe that cameras increase transparency, accountability and public confidence, and ultimately help to make the community safer.”

The cameras, which are worn on the front of body armour, are designed to capture a wide image of what the officer sees.

“Once turned on, the cameras record a constant 30-second video loop until the officer presses a button,” Mr Simons said.

“At that point, the camera saves the previous 30 seconds of video and begins to record video and audio until deactivated. That footage is uploaded to a secure online server.

“The video automatically uploads via a docking station to a cloud-based storage and management system. The system secures the video evidence so that it cannot be tampered with and preserves the data for use at court or for other enquiries.

“By expanding the programme to include all operational patrol officers, we will increase the opportunities to gather video evidence of the daily incidents we deal with.”

The cost, including cameras, docking stations, licence fees, warranty and evidence management of the initiative, is $58,000 — however, the cameras are about $100 cheaper than the Taser cameras that had been used.

Pc Brian MacNab said that while the cameras had been in use in a limited capacity, they were set to be sent out to all police stations tomorrow, with the goal of deploying them Island-wide on Friday morning.

“What we tried to do is get it out before Hallowe’en,” he said. “There’s a Hallowe’en operational order and a lot of police officers working, so we thought the best thing was to get it out before that.”

Pc McNab said officers had reacted positively to the cameras because they could be used to de-escalate situations.

“A lot of the officers during training thought it was a very good idea,” he said. “They’re looking at their interactions with members of the public when they become a little irate.

“By telling that person they are being audio and video recorded, that brings their attitude down and allows the officer to do their job without having to get physical.

“It’s a win-win for the whole community.

“Not only can we be accountable for our own actions on the street, but people have to take responsibility because we have a video of how they treated us.”

He said the cameras had similar capacity for night vision as a person’s eyes — a deliberate decision to ensure they capture what the officer sees.

“They are solid state, so provided that the officer doesn’t bounce it on the floor they should last some time,” he said.

Officers will not be able to delete or change footage — as soon as they are plugged in they automatically upload recorded footage, which only a handful of officers will have access to.